Schmid: “The biggest change in Swiss handball — the mindset”

The all-time leader in terms of both appearances and goals for the Switzerland men’s team, and five-time Bundesliga MVP, Schmid was inducted into the EHF Hall of Fame in 2024. The EHF EURO 2026 will be his second tournament as Switzerland coach, after leading the team at the 2025 IHF Men’s World Championship, which marked the side’s second participation in recent years following a 26-year absence from the global tournament.

eurohandball.com: Just over a month out from the start of the EHF EURO 2026, how would you summarise the status of your team now?

Andy Schmid: Till now is everything fine, because the players are looking ready. No big injuries. Maybe we have a chance also to get the injury from Manuel Zehnder — one of our key players; he plays in Magdeburg — maybe we can get him back. Everyone else should be ready, and I just cross my fingers that the Christmas time will not bring some injuries. And then we are really looking forward to present Swiss handball on the biggest stage in Europe. 

eurohandball.com: How would you describe the evolution of the team since the last EURO, your own retirement and you taking the role of national coach? 

Andy Schmid: The team just got even younger after I stopped my career. Young playmakers, some young wing players especially. Almost in every position we are a really young team and I just try to focus on the next few years — that they can develop their skills, they can develop their mindset. I think this is the biggest change we had in Swiss handball — the mindset. The mindset of the players. They want to put everything into handball. It's not other things first. In the past, it was many times that the education was the most important thing, or the family or the friends or something like that. You can see the players want to go to play, for example, in the Bundesliga or in France or in other leagues and that's a great sign. I can remember when I was on my peak in my handball career, I was almost the only one who played in another league than Switzerland. And that it — it's the biggest change. 

eurohandball.com: You have a number of players doing really well on an individual level with big clubs. How important are their roles with their clubs in the context of the national team? 

Andy Schmid: That's the most important because as a national coach, you can only form some individual or some tactical parts, because you have almost no time. I just have to figure it out — how I can adjust the puzzle in a few weeks. That's why it's the most important thing that they play in good clubs, that they train in good clubs, that they have high quality of coaches. That's really important for me. And I just want to be there for them to go the next step — the next step on the field and beside of the field, because in my opinion it’s really important, the mindset. I talked about it — that the sports career doesn't go up all the time. It takes some really deep holes and there, as a coach and as a friend, I want to be beside them. 

eurohandball.com: Let’s talk about mindset. After certain teams at the very top, like Denmark, there are many sides that have the chance to go far with a good tournament, including Switzerland. How do you handle the mentality side of where your team sits? 

Andy Schmid: For me it's important that we don't speak out too loud. I want to deliver on the field. I want that my players deliver on the field. In my experience, no team won some games when they were talking about it really loudly before it. Just bring your 100 per cent handball skills; 100 per cent mental skills in the games — then you have a chance to win. But I can see also that the level of European handball just grew in the last years. Many, many teams came up. For sure, you mentioned it — that Denmark is maybe a little bit away from all the other countries. But after them, it's really tight. It's a really tight race and it's interesting for the spectators, interesting for the media, but also a hard part for the coaches and the players because the level is growing and growing.

eurohandball.com: Speaking of a tight race, your group in the qualifiers was a very close one, in which you had a lot of great results against teams like Germany and Austria. How do you see the qualifiers? 

Andy Schmid: We had a tricky group, with Germany, Austria and also Türkiye from pot four. Türkiye has also developed the last years. We could see it in the games. And Germany we don't have to talk about it — it's our big neighbour. Austria also did really well in the last couple of years. That's why it was a tricky group — I have to say it, honestly. We didn't lose any home game. We played two times draw against Austria and Germany at home. Türkiye, we could win, and that's why we are really happy. And that's also an important part: To be humble, with both legs on the floor. 

eurohandball.com: What about your personally — how do you see your development as a coach?  

Andy Schmid: It was jumping in ice-cold water — I have to say it honestly. Because I just finished my career in January and two months later I was national team coach. That's maybe not something natural, but it helped me for sure. It helped me, my position in the teams I had — I was playmaker all the time. Also, I was forty years old. It was helping that I have some life experience also. And I feel it. I just grow every day. I grow every day when I'm with the team. That's the good part of national team coach. You have also time to reflect time; time to prepare. That's a really big advantage as national team coach, because I'm not every day in the hall or every third day to prepare for a game. That's why I'm still in the beginning, but I have also a good confidence in my skills — in my personal skills, in my handball skills. But I know that there is also coming some moments, it goes not the right direction, but that's the good thing that I've made this experience also as a player. That's why I can handle it better as a coach as well. 

eurohandball.com: Is there anything that surprised you a lot in terms of coaching?

Andy Schmid: There are many things. Sometimes I'm standing by the side and then I think it was not possible what this player did. Sometimes I have to get the feeling that I don't have the ball in my own hand and can’t decide the moments. It was not surprising that I don't have the ball in the hand, but it's surprising that the game looks different from the side. That's the biggest surprise, maybe. The game looks so totally different. I tried to go into the head of the players when I was on the field by myself — to feel the situation, to feel what they saw, what they thought, and stuff like that. And the biggest surprise is handling 18 or 20 different characters. That's also maybe the biggest part for the coach. Sometimes you have to be the friend, sometimes you have to be the handball trainer. It's so different roles you have to get into because, as a player, you go to the training, you go to the game, you think about yourself, you prepare yourself. Now you have to prepare 18, 20 players and feel the situations, feel the mental strength of 18 or 20 players — not only yourself.

eurohandball.com: Looking to the EURO itself, you will play from group D, with Slovenia, Faroe Islands and Montenegro. How do you see this group?

Andy Schmid: I think every team can go to the next round. It really depends on the day. We have big respect for the teams. Slovenia, we know. It's a team, they had really big moments in the last couple of years on the EURO stage. Faroe Islands, maybe the team or the country with the biggest development the last five years. You can see some players from the Bundesliga. They have really talented individual players. And Montenegro is a little bit surprising, maybe — you never know what you get, but with the mentality, they can reach far. But we have big self-confidence in our system, in our players. But we know we have to be on the biggest level to reach the next round. That's our goal. We’re coming with big self-confidence, but we know also that we have to be on a good level to reach the next round. But that's for sure our goal.

photos © Foto Wagner / Alexander Wagner [except gallery: kolektiff]