GOG THIRD IN CHAMPIONS CUP

Danish champions GOG Svendborg TGI, who will be one of Denmark’s two participants in the Men’s Champions League this season, finished third in the Champions Cup tournament in the German town of Zwickau this weekend. GOG won a test match the day before the start of the tournament 37:28 against German 2^nd Bundesliga team LHC Cottbus, and in the tournament itself the Danes started off by defeating Polish champions Zaglibie Lublin 38:35. They lost the second match against German Bundesliga team SC Magdeburg 35:27, to be defeated by Creteil of France 37:35.

These results meant that GOG had to play for the third position against Dessau from the 2^nd Bundesliga – and the Danes managed to win this match 36:28 and took the third place. Magdeburg won the tournament after defeating Granollers 28:27 in the final.

Coach generally satisfied

“I think we got a lot out of the tournament, and it is my impression that the integration of our new players is progressing according to plan”, GOG coach Ulf Schefvert told Eurohandball.com.

“In the match against Ljublin, one of our new players, Swedish defender Magnus Jernemyr, injured a knee and missed the rest of the tournament, but we did very well as long as we were playing at full strength – and the fact that we lost as big to Magdeburg as we did, was mainly due to the fact that we practically fell out of the game for 10 or 12 minutes!”, added Schefvert, whose team will be opening the Danish league at home against AaB Håndbold on September 8^th – and whose first challenge in the Champions League will be in Spain against Portland San Antonio on September 26^th.

TEXT : Peter Bruun

Great Plans, Promising Squad

MKB VeszprÚm, quarterfinalist last season in the Champions League, have gone through big changes during the summer. Coach Zdravko Zovko was replaced by Lajos Mocsai, a most experienced and succesful Hungarian expert. The greatest star, FYR Macedonian Kiril Lazarov left, while young players (IlyÚs, T. Ivßncsik, Markovic) joined the club.

The team are currently in Germany preparing for the season. Last weekend, VeszprÚm finished second at the Br³mmerhof Cup after beating Hamburg and losing against THW Kiel. This week, the squad travels to the Schlecker Cup to meet top teams including Kiel. Between the two tournaments, VeszprÚm played against lower division German teams.

Eurohandball.com asks new coach, Lajos Mocsai, about the preparations and about the prospects of his young team.

Eurohandball.com: The Hungarian Championship starts early September, the Champions League group stage starts at the end of September. How does VeszprÚm prepare at the moment?

Lajos Mocsai: Our preparation will have three phases. The second phase just began in Germany. We play lots of test matches û we played five in just six days. The most important is to finalise our tactical plans. The third phase will be in Hungary where we will be training until the start of the championship.

Eurohandball.com: Your team takes part at big tournaments with top clubs. How are these tests going?

Lajos Mocsai: Bundesliga starts two weeks earlier than the Hungarian championship and it means that the German teams have a two-week advantage over us. Our players arrived to Br³mmerhof Cup tired from fitness trainings, hungry for some handball and they were highly motivated. This is a possible way to reach good results.

This week we have been travelling a lot. We played many matches with German teams and we arrive to the Schlecker Cup after all this. We would like to be good opponents of these top teams, but we are in a phase of great physical fatigue. All matches are important for us when we can play against foreign clubs to see what our players are capable of.

Eurohandball.com: There have been many changes in VeszprÚm. What is your new, young team like?

Lajos Mocsai: We have 6 or 7 player who are 21 to 23 years old. We work continuously on different aspects: we want to reach top level in physical abilities. This is very important in international handball today. We also want to get closer to the European elite. There are differences, however. German teams also buy young players, but those young handballers have 3-4 years of Bundesliga experience. ItÆs enough to mention Kiel signing the Czech Jicha, for example.

The players we sign are not mature players and they need 1 or 2 years to reach top level. We have an agreement in VeszprÚm. We are going to take a look at the team one year from now and we will see which players are able to take us to the top international level, which are not.

Eurohandball.com: Does it mean that there is a lot of patience from the managementÆs side?

Lajos Mocsai: This will be a year of serious work. Luckily, the young players are quick, creative ones who work with great mentality.

In VeszprÚm it was always important to evolve, but at the same time it was also important to keep on bringing good results.

Eurohandball.com: It will not be easy in the Champions League this time. VeszprÚm are in a very strong groupà

Lajos Mocsai: We are in one group with former CL winning Celje and the German Gummersbach. The latter I know well because I also worked there not long ago. They are a rich club, signed good players, they play in the K÷lnarenaà Fantastic! Everyone expects them to finish in the first five teams of the Bundesliga. The fourth team will probably be Reykjavik, which is also a difficult opponent.

This is the strongest group in the Champions League for sure. I believe that the home games will be crucial. The team that makes an away victory will qualify for the main round.

Eurohandball.com: What will be decisive in the race for the first two places?

Lajos Mocsai: It all depends on the form in the given period. Who has fewer injuries, who can concentrate better at the given game? This will decide. The differences are tiny.

TEXT: Eurohandball.com

ALBERTO ENTRERROS: THE ROCKER OF CIUDAD REAL

Everybody knows who Alberto EntrerrÝos is on a court. He has won the Champions League title with Ciudad Real, the World Championship with the national team of Spain, and with 145 caps for Spain making him a truly great international handball player. But not so many people know that Alberto also plays guitar and is part of the rock group, ôSemilla negraö.

Alberto first picked up a guitar three years ago and the band played their first concert this summer in a small town not too far away from Ciudad Real. Alberto and his band will play their next gig on the 19^th August as the opening act for the famous 80Æs Spanish group ôNacha Popö in Ciudad Real.

ôWe are just trying to have a good time, nothing more, nothing less. It is very nice to forget the stress of our day jobs and enjoy this time we have making musicö says Alberto who sometimes finds it difficult to meet up with the other band members for practice as being part of the Ciudad Real team means that the player is travelling from one city to another. ôSometimes, I cannot play due to my responsibilities within the team, thankfully they understand thatö

EntrerrÝos used to travel with a small guitar which he used to play in his leisure time. ôMusic and handball are not very different. You need to be mentally strong and work hard at it everyday.ö Alberto has played in pavilions with 5000-6000 people shouting his name, but at his very first concert, he was very nervous. ôI was sweating, very nervous...my mates had played to the public before, but for me it was the first time. However, I was able to get past the nerves and just enjoyö.

Alberto Entrerrios is not the first player of Asobal League who shares music and handball as their prime passions. Tomas Svensson has also recorded a CD in Sweden and plays guitar too.

TEXT: Fernando Urra Go±i

SG Flensburg û Handewitt: Title dreams and a match in Copenhagen

Alexander Petersson, Lars Christiansen, Marcin Lijewski and Johnny Jensen are immersed in the shadows. The expression on their faces are determined, their arms crossed Infront of them û as if to say, ôno one can get us!ö These impressive background pictures created the scene for the presentation of SG Flensburg-HandewittÆs objectives for the coming season, which û as usual û include hopes of a title. ôWe have a very strong team againö, declared Coach Kent Harry Andersson. ôWe can attack at the top once again and go far in the Champions League.ö

The ônorthern lightsö have around 5 million euro to help realise these ambitions - less than their rivals from Kiel (6.5) and Hamburg (5.3). ôWe donÆt have a hall for 10 000 spectators or a generous patron, or a manifold of companies nearbyö, said President Frerich Eilts. ôFor us marketing and business are extremely important.ö This is the reason why SG have built-up a double management duo, managing director Fynn Holpert (ôwho should create new interest in the clubö) and the sport director Anders Dahl-Nielsen (ôwho will work close to the teamö). This duo has created a special project in desperate times: when the Campushalle (6 000 season tickets) is booked for 6 days for an exhibition, the ônorthern lightsö want to move them home match against Gummersbach to Copenhagen (Br÷ndyhall, 6 500 spectatators) to do some important promotional work. ôDenmark has a booming economy with many companies, which need the German marketö, says Fynn Holpert. ôAnd SG Flennsburg-Handewitt is a top product from Germany.ö

At the beginning of the season, Flensburg have to make do without three of their best players. S÷ren Stryger (damaged cartilage and whose return is being questioned), Blazenko Lackovic (knee) and Frank von Behren (broken hand). The Croatian has returned after being examined by a specialist. ôIn four weeks, heÆll be back on courtö, thinks team doctor Dr. Hauke Mommsen. ôBut lets not forget that this is the third knee operation for Blazenko Lackovic .ö Frank Von Behren will probably make a comeback by the end of September. Captain Ljubomir Vranjes has high expectations for the new season. ôAs captain I have to push the team if we want to win the title.ö

TEXT: Jan KirschnerTRANSLATION: EHF

Karabatic Wants "More Perfect Season"

Nikola Karabatic was the special guest and helping hand at the Men’s Champions League Draw for the 2007/08 season. The left back player of CL winning THW Kiel was handed over the Top Scorer Award as well for last season. Paul Bray, moderator of the evening, asked Nikola about his achievement.

Paul Bray: You had an amazing season: won the Champions League together with the top scorer award, you won the German Championship and the German Cup and you were also chosen best player of the league. What can be your next goal?

Nikola Karabatic: It was a pretty good season, we won almost everything possible, but we lost the World Championship semi-final against Germany. It could have been more perfect…

Paul Bray: Next year you can try again in Beijing, maybe…

Nikola Karabatic: It will be a great year for us: Olympic Games, European Championship and Champions League. We will have a lot to do; we hope to win all of these. That is the reason I signed a new contract, we still have objectives with my club.

Paul Bray: You have Omeyer, another French player in Kiel. Did he help you to feel at home?

Nikola Karabatic: I moved to Kiel two years ago and I felt at home already after 4 months. It is a good club, good managers… It is perfect for a player to be in Kiel. I hope we will sign even more French players as I always speak only German and at the end I forget French.

TEXT: Paul Bray

Viborg Coach: Tough Teams Ahead

“These are tough opponents,” commented Viborg HK coach, Tomas Ryde, right after the draw of the first group stage in the Women’s Champions League. His team was drawn into Group D together with Budapest Bank-FTC from Hungary, Buducnost T-Mobile from Montenegro and the winner of Qualification Group 3 (with Romanian Oltchim Valcea, Norwegian Byåsen, Portuguese Madeira Andebol and a team from the first qualification round.

“If Valcea win their qualification group – as I expect – I’m quite sure that they will be our toughest opponents, while I’m in doubt about the two other teams,” Tomas Ryde told Eurohandball.com.

Question marks: Buducnost and FTC

“I think that Budocnost have a very good team, but I’m not sure how they will improve after their recent coach change. However, our new Serbian player, Bojana Popovic, will be able to provide us with a lot of information about them,” said Ryde. The Swedish coach has also questions about FTC Budapest.

“At the moment it is quite difficult to say a lot about that team. I’m not sure, whether they are as strong as they were last season. They lost their coach (András Nemeth has joined Austrian Hypo Niederösterreich, ed.) and a couple of players too. I don’t know their strength right now. Anyway, we are optimistic as we always have to be,” concluded Viborg’s Swedish coach.

TEXT: Peter Bruun

Aalborg Expect Difficult CL

Danish Women’s Champions League team Aalborg DH were not very happy with the Champions League Qualification and Main Round draw.

In the qualification group (28-30 September), Aalborg will meet Ukrainian HC Motor Zaporoshye and Greek champion ASE Ormi Patras (hosts of the group) and the winner of Group B in the first qualification round (Serbian ZRK Milos, Dutch Van der Oort Quintus, Swedish IK Sävehof or Milli Piyango from Turkey).

“This is a very tough group, a big challenge. We have great respect for Motor Zapooshye in particular, while we saw the Greek team two years ago and we should be able to beat them – just as the last team in the group, whichever team that might be,” said Aalborg’s new coach, Leif Gautestad.

“I do not know anything about the Greek team. Regarding Zaporohye, we met them the in the qualifiers two years ago and defeated them on aggregate,” said one of Aalborg’s Danish national players, Louise Mortensen.

Director: One thing at a time

“Of course, our qualification group is tough, but fortunately we don’t have to meet Zaproroshye on their home ground. However, there is really no point in commenting the main group before winning the qualification group,” Aalborg director, Erik Just, told Eurohandball.com.

If Aalborg could qualify for the main tournament, they would meet Slovenian Krim Mercator Ljubljana – they already met last two years in the CL –, Russian Zvezda Zvenigorod and German champion FC Nürnberg.

“Krim is a wonderful club to visit. They are nice people and highly professional at the same time. Their team are tough opponents, just as Zvenigorod. However, we must be ready for all challenges and all opponents,” Erik Just added.

TEXT: Peter Bruun

Two New Titles for Hypo-Noe Within a Week

After suffering defeat in the CL semi-final against the Russian team of Lada Togliatti (as earlier reported on eurohandball.com), Hypo-Noe had to defend their titles in the Austrian Cup and the Austrian championship.

The result for Gunnar Prokop’s team was three easy wins and two more titles. The cup final was played on 1 May in the West Austrian town of Dornbirn against the team of SSV Dornbirn Schoren. 800 excited spectators welcomed Prokop’s elite team, which produced an avalanche of goals to win by 55:25 (27:11). The top scorers were (for Hypo) Boklashchuk with 17 (2), while for the home team, Gferrer scored 6 (2). It was Hypo-Noe’s 20th cup win in a row.

Two days later there was a meeting between the first and second teams of Hypo-Noe in the championship final. The team of Feri Kovács fought bravely and led at half- time by one goal (15:14). Ryan Zinglersen’s world class Hypo 1 fought back in the second half and with magnificent displays by Piedade and Fridrikas, they turned things around to win by 33:24.

Farewell title for coach and players

For Saturday’s return game, Ryan Zinglersen promised a tougher performance by his Hypo1 team, and their class gave the youngsters of Hypo2 no chance. The final score of 40:22 (24:11) provided the ideal finale for those leaving Hypo1 at the end of the season (Ryan Zinglersen, Gabriela Rotis, Tetyana Shynkarenko, Alina Marin, Mariya Boklaschuk and Katarina Stevancevic).

The new coach, handball professor András Németh, and the two new players from Ferencváros (Erika Kirsner, and Tímea Tóth) were introduced to the fans, and were given a warm welcome. With these three Hungarians and other signings such as Sabine Englert and Katrin Engel, Hypo-Noe are already looking forward to the new season in the hope of winning the CL title for the 9th time.

TEXT: Márk Hegedüs, Time Out Magazin (www.timeoutmag.com)

Slagelse Hitting the High Notes

If it was the choice of Lada coach Alexey Gumyanov, he would surely have chosen another time to meet Slagelse DT in Champions League Final. The Danish team reached top form for the most important period of the season: Slagelse won 30-23 at home and 28-26 away against Krim Ljubljana in the quarterfinals; they defeated Gyori Audi ETO 31-25 and 30-22 in the semi-final; they have beaten EHF Cup finalists Ikast/Bording 34-29 and 39-30 in the Danish play-off semi-finals, and recently they defeated last year’s CL winners and Danish champions Viborg HK by 30-19 and 32-25 in the Danish league finals.

Going for the third title

Even though Slagelse have won the Women’s Champions League twice before – in 2004 and 2005 – head coach Anja Andersen does not deny the importance of the third victory.

“After losing the title last year, it would be the greatest achievement of my career to get it back with Slagelse,” she said.

As usual, however, Slagelse have great respect for the opponents:

“Lada are an interesting young team who like to play very fast and put a lot of pressure on the opponents’ defence. We like to do exactly the same, so this can make these two finals very exciting,” assistant coach Peter Bruun Jørgensen told Eurohandball.com.

“Lada have many players with great potential – not only the two most famous handballers, Liudmilla Postnova and Irini Bliznova, but they also have two great playmakers and two good left wingers. And when Bliznova was injured in the first leg of their quarterfinal tie with Viborg HK, Ekaterina Davydenko came in and did almost as well as Bliznova in the right back position. In general, I am impressed by the current potential of Russian women’s handball,” Peter Bruun Jørgensen added.

Experienced referees

The first leg of the finals will begin at 15.50 CET (18.50 local time) Sunday in Togliatti with Slovenian Darlo Repenzek and Janko Pozeznik refereeing. The second leg will take place exactly a week later, Sunday May 20th at 19.15 in Brøndby Hallen, Copenhagen, with the experienced French referees Gilles Bord and Olivier Buy in charge.

TEXT: Peter Bruun

Above Expectations

When Karsten Madsen took over as chairman in Slagelse FH last August, things of the club did not look nearly as bright as they do today. Anja Andersen was about to leave Slagelse and several players and sponsors were also.

Things have definitely changed during Madsen’s first eight months as chairman. Apart from the fact that Anja Andersen will stay, the sponsors will also and new ones join the club; in addition, most of the key players are also going to stay.

Slagelse have just won the Danish Championship – and on top of all, they are in their third Champions League Final in four years. This time Russian Lada Togliatti will be the opponent in the next two weeks. Eurohandball.com talks to Karsten Madsen.

Eurohandball.com: What is it like to be the chairman of a Champions League finalist?

Karsten Madsen: Well, I have been involved in the club in the previous years too, but as a sponsor. It is correct, though, that it is my first time as chairman and it is really great. The team has developed tremendously during this season and I’m very happy that not only our women’s team is successful, but also our men’s team gained promotion to the First Division this season

Eurohandball.com: This was probably not what you expected when you took over as chairman back in August?

Karsten Madsen. Actually, I said already that time that our target is to win everything this season. But of course, one thing is to target something. To achieve it is something different…

Eurohandball.com: When you took over as chairman, Anja Andersen was about to leave together with several players and sponsors. Now we know that Anja Andersen stays for at least two more years, and so do majority of the players and sponsors. It must be much better to be chairman now than it was eight months ago…

Karsten Madsen: We are still facing big challenges in the coming years as Viborg signed Bojana (Popovic, ed.) and they will – of course – be very strong next year. But then again, nothing is impossible!

Eurohandball.com: Not many towns of Slagelse’s dimensions have a sports team at this level. This must mean a lot to the whole club and the town.

Karsten Madsen: At least we are the only town of this size with a team on this level at the moment. Viborg did it last year – this year we are doing it for the third time. It is simply fantastic!

TEXT: Peter Bruun

Alexey Gumyanov: “We must not miss a chance like this”

Lada Togliatti are preparing for the final of the Champions League against Slagelse with the Russian Championship final. The last “test match” was the first leg that Lada won at home against EHF Cup finalist Zvenigorod Zvezda 33:28. The second leg will only be played after the CL finals. Eurohandball.com talks to head coach of Lada Togliatti, Alexey Gumyanov.

eurohandball.com: What can you tell us about the form and physical condition of your team?

Alexey Gumyanov: After the CL semi-final in Austria and three other Russian league games the players were tired, almost exhausted. But after a one-week rest they gained a good physical form for the first match of the Russian finals.

eurohandball.com: Is it more difficult to play CL finals and Russian League finals at the same time or does it even help?

Alexey Gumyanov: Of course it is difficult to play CL finals and Russian League finals simultaneously. It happens sometimes that the team must change time zones three times a week and the time difference varies from 1 to 3 hours. We must fly frequently and it influences physical condition. Before any important match the team should have minimum a week to be able to recover and be fit both physically and psychologically.

eurohandball.com: What is the greatest strength of Slagelse? What do you prepare for?

Alexey Gumyanov: We have been keeping an eye on Slagelse for three years now. In my opinion, the team displays a very interesting and varied style of play at the moment. Slagelse are very strong in all positions starting from their goalkeeper.

eurohandball.com: Who do you think the most dangerous Slagelse players can be?

Alexey Gumyanov: Leganger, Melgaard, Savic, Popovic, Turey and Lungu.

eurohandball.com: What are your expectations for the final?

Alexey Gumyanov: We can’t miss the chance to win the CL final. It is not given very often so we will do our best to win it.

eurohandball.com: What support do you expect at home from your own fans?

Alexey Gumyanov: There is a proverb: “East or west, at home is the best.” It means that even the walls can help us to reach the victory. We expect excellent support from the fans who love our team.

TEXT: eurohandball.com

Lada Prepare For the Final: "We Want to Win the Champions League!”

he most successful Lada season in Europe started with pessimistic expectations from many Russian experts and fans. Some people even predicted that the campaign of the Togliattians would inevitably end in failure. The reason was the loss of head coach Trefilov who moved to Zvezda Zvenigorod, taking experienced players such as Shipilova and Romenskaya with him. However, new coach Alexey Gumyanov said that there is no use for crying and started searching for improvement. He found it in the area of tactics and psychology; in addition, some young players entirely justified the trainer’s confidence.

In the Champions League, Lada made its way to the final with no slip-ups. Gumyanov’s team won 5 matches in group B and lost only the last (to Gyori AUDI ETO) but their position in the table was already secure. The Russian champions defeated Viborg in the quarter-finals (32:32, 33:31) and Hypo in the semi-finals (28:22, 29:35).

Finals in the Russian championship

In the national championship, Lada lost 3 points during the main round and took 2nd place behind Zvezda. In the quarter-final play-offs, Lada completely destroyed Zvezda-2 – 36:21 (away), 30:20 (home). Young players, such as Olga Chernoivanenko and Ekaterina Davydenko were especially good in these games. The semi-finals proved more difficult, as in the first match, Lada lost to Dinamo Volgograd – 24:28. Dinamo was the silver medalist for the last 5 seasons, and is a strong club with big ambitions, so Lada felt uncomfortable losing the first game. But Togliattians used their second-leg home advantage to full effect, putting their guests firmly in their place – 34:29, 34:27; Bliznova, Marennikova and Muraviova performed very well in these matches. Alexey Gumyanov said afterwards that his team was very tired due to a hard schedule. He hadn’t been surprised with the defeat in Volgograd, but had been sure that the overall victory would be theirs. Lada won the series 2:1, and will play Zvezda in final.

The first battle between Lada and Zvezda took place on 5th May in Togliatti, so the team didn't have much time to recover its strength before the CL final. But Togliattian players must have been in good spirit as they defeated their main rivals in Russia 33:28, leaving Evgeny Trefilov very disappointed! The second and the third (if the 3rd is necessary) matches are assigned to 26 and 27 May, but now Lada are looking forward to the Champions League final!

"We want the Champions League"

Alexey Gumyanov spoke exclusively to eurohandball.com:

"We had a tough moment when we lost in Volgograd, whilst at the same moment getting news about the death of Ludmila Postnova's boyfriend. The girls were all crying. Then we defeated Dinamo twice at home. As you know, last Saturday we played against Zvezda, and also celebrated a victory. Matches with Zvenigorod’s team are not just matches for the gold for us – to win is a matter of honour for both teams. That's because there are many ex-Togliattians in Zvezda, including head coach Trefilov, and other reasons. The first half was tough and nervous, but in the second we performed very well and showed our best qualities. We are a little tired physically, but feel very well mentally. We know that Slagelse DT is a real "dream team" that has just became the Danish champion, and we are working to find the best way to match them. Rest assured, we won’t give up. We want to win the Champions League very much".