Djukic appointed new coach

The 47-year-old has previously coached Jordan and Macedonia and was part of the coaching team that helped Switzerland top their group in the qualifying stages of the European and World Championships.

"I'm really excited about being the head coach for Great Britain men," said Djukic.

"It's such a great challenge. It's a long road to London but I believe we will be competitive by 2012.

"I believe everything is possible with ambition and determination.

"The players have both those attributes but more than that we have to develop our own style of play which can't be copied by Balkan teams, or Far East teams of European teams.

"Every man dreams of helping to create a new team from scratch. Britain has no real handball tradition, so it was a challenge I couldn't resist."