Marcos Fis: From a park in Ciudad Real to the big stage

Alex and Daniel Dujshebaev followed their father Talant — a two-time IHF World Player of the Year, five-time EHF Champions League winner, as well as world and Olympic champion – and became EHF EURO champions themselves in 2018 and 2020.

Last season, star Ian Barrufet rose to prominence when he became the youngest top scorer of the EHF European League at the age of only 21, with MT Melsungen. His father David is Spain and Barcelona's legendary player, winning the EHF Champions League six times, besides gold at the 2005 World Championship and three EHF EURO silver medals. Currently, he is the team manager of the Spanish side at the EHF EURO, while also being the sports director of the EHF Champions League participants Dinamo Bucuresti.

Since their victorious EHF EURO 2026 opener against Serbia (29:27), another son of a famous father is in the spotlight: Marcos Fis, son of Julio Fis — EHF Champions League winner with Ciudad Real, three-time top scorer of the Spanish league and, together with Talant Dujshebaev and David Barrufet, silver medallist at the EHF EURO 1996. 

Like the Dujshebaev brothers and Ian Barrufet, Marcos is part of the current Spanish team — and his story sounds quite unbelievable: at the age of 17, as a player of the Spanish second division team Caserío from the Lan Mancha region, he was selected by the senior national team coach Jordi Ribera for some test matches. 

In between this and the EHF EURO 2026, Marcos Fis proved why Ribera counts on such a young player: he became MVP at the 2025 U19 World Championship in Egypt, steering Spain to the final, which they unluckily lost against Germany after a penalty shoot-out.

“I was happy to become MVP and to win the silver medal, which is a good result, but on the other side, we were so close to winning gold, so I was also disappointed,” Marcos Fis looks back on last summer.

On Thursday in Herning, he had his debut in an official match for the Spanish senior team at the age of 18 — and like Caesar, he came, saw and conquered. The right back shot and scored just a few seconds after he entered the court, and continued withhis second and third goals within two minutes.

“In the preparation of the match, I was very nervous, but when I entered the court, these feelings had gone. I think I played quite well and could help the team,” Fis says.

The secret to this success? The special training sessions with his Cuban-born father, who played in Veszprém and Kiel before joining Irun and then Ciudad Real. Julio Fis stands for the golden era of Ciudad Real, though he had to stop his career after a knee injury and therefore missed the second and third EHF Champions League triumphs of the team. Marcos was born in 2007, right between the first and second EHF Champions League trophies of the Dujshebaev-coached side, and it was obvious from his early days that handball will imprint his life.

“Handball has always been the life, though I had also started to play football. It was obvious that I continue playing handball, as my father was my coach in our team in Ciudad Real. I had my clear vision to become a handball player.”

As the club in Ciudad Real — later called Atletico Madrid — went bankrupt, Julio and his son did not have constant access to a training hall, so they trained in the park, without teammates, just throwing, passing and shooting when there was no official training. And this extra training paid off: first Marcos Fis was discovered by Jordi Ribera because of his “incredibly powerful left arm”, then he moved to the first division club, former EHF Cup winners and EHF European League 2023 finalists Fraikin BM. Granollers.

In his first league match — at the age of 18 — Marcos Fis netted 10 times and he is currently Granollers’ best scorer, as well as the overall third-best scorer of the Spanish league. “This club works a lot with young players, Granollers is perfect for me to learn, to improve and develop,” says the young talent.

His father, Julio, played in the national team with Talant Dujshebaev, and now Marcos even shares the position with Alex Dujshebaev, who is the team’s captain.

“This is very funny, because I never expect to play with Alex, as he is much older than me. But I am very proud to share the position with him, because when I was young, he was my idol, I watched him so often. To play in the same team with him, means a great chance to learn a lot.”

In general, Marcos Fis hoped to play once with the senior team, but was quite surprised that his debut came this early: “It was a big step from the youth national team to the seniors of course, but I played well in the Spanish league and in the national team test matches in November. I was a bit surprised when Jordi was calling, but I hope that I can fulfill the expectations.”

But even when you have a big name, the routines are the same for Marcos Fis: “Like in all teams, the young players carry the balls and the water for the team, but this is a normal experience everywhere.” For him, not being the only young player in the squad was an advantage, as Spain are in a state of transition: “It was easier to get into the team, as many young players started at the same time or a little bit earlier. The integration works very well.”

The legendary fathers Dujshebaev, Barrufet and Fis have never won gold at the European Championship, but they did win many silver and bronze medals — can the sons go for silverware already this year? “We do not know yet if we can win a medal. Our first goal is making it to the main round, and then we try to do everything to go that far.”

Photos © kolektiff images & EHF archive