Patrick Cazal (born 1971) is a French

team handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball, Olympic handball or indoor handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a Handball goalkeeper, goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands ...

coach and former player. As a player he was part of the French team, that won the 1995 World Championship; the first time ever France won a major international tournament. He also competed at the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, officially branded as Sydney 2000, and also known as the Games of the New Millennium, were an international multi-sport event held from 15 September to 1 October ...

, where the French team placed 6th. Since retiring from competitions in 2008 he worked as a handball coach, with Dunkerque Handball Grand Littoral (2011–2022).

Career

Cazal started playing handball at Château-Morange on

Réunion Réunion (; ; ; known as before 1848) is an island in the Indian Ocean that is an overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department and region of France. Part of the Mascarene Islands, it is located approximately east of the isl ...

, before joining Paris-Asnières in 1989. He broke through on the first team in 1990. He later joined

Montpellier Handball Montpellier Handball, formerly named Montpellier Agglomération Handball, is a professional handball club from Montpellier, France. Montpellier is the only French club to ever have won the EHF Champions League. History The team was founded as ...

where he won the 1995, 1998 and 1999 French Championship and the 1999 French Cup. He debuted for the French national team on November 2nd, 1994 against Switzerland. In 1999 he joined Spanish Bidasoa Irún in the top league,

Liga ASOBAL Liga Asobal is the premier professional handball league in Spain. It was founded in 1958 with the name of División de Honor, changing its name to the current name in 1990. The Liga ASOBAL, which is played under EHF rules, currently consists of ...

. In 2002 he joined German

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany and the highest level of the German football league system. The Bundesliga comprises 18 teams ...

team

TUSEM Essen TUSEM Essen is a handball club from Essen, Germany. Currently, they compete in the 2. Handball-Bundesliga. Accomplishments *Handball-Bundesliga: 3 **: 1986, 1987, 1989 *DHB-Pokal: 3 **: 1988, 1991, 1992 *EHF Champions League: 1 **: 1988 * EHF ...

. Here he won the 2005

EHF Cup The EHF European League is an annual men's handball club competition organised by the European Handball Federation (EHF) since 1981. It is the second-tier competition of European club handball, ranking only below the EHF Champions League. Previo ...

. In 2005 he returned to France and joined

Dunkerque HGL Dunkerque Handball Grand Littoral is a handball club from Dunkerque, France. Currently, US Dunkerque HB competes in the LNH Division 1, French First League of Handball since 1991. History The club was founded on 3 September 1958 under the name ...

. He retired in 2008, and became the assistant coach at

Dunkerque Dunkirk ( ; ; ; Picard language, Picard: ''Dunkèke''; ; or ) is a major port city in the Departments of France, department of Nord (French department), Nord in northern France. It lies from the Belgium, Belgian border. It has the third-larg ...

Coaching Career

After three years as the assistant, in 2011 he overtook the head coach position at the club. He coached the club for 11 years until 2022. Between September 2022 and April 2024 he was the head coach of the Tunisia men's national team.

Titles

Club

* French Championship **''Winner'': 1995, 1998, 1999 * French Cup **''Winner'': 1999 **''Finalist'': 1998 *

**''Winner'': 2005

Individual awards

* French Championship Best Coach: 2013, 2014

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cazal, Patrick 1971 births Living people French male handball players Olympic handball players for France Handball players at the 2000 Summer Olympics Sportsmen from Réunion French handball coaches French expatriate sportspeople in Tunisia Expatriate handball coaches French expatriate handball players in Germany French expatriate handball players in Spain Handball players from Réunion Paris Saint-Germain Handball players Montpellier Handball players CD Bidasoa Irun players 20th-century French sportsmen