Coach Comments: Women's Cup Winners' Cup

Spanish-Romanian and Croatian-Norwegian clashes are coming up in the CWC. Read what the coaches expect.

Akaba Bera Bera

Reyes Carrere (coach):
“After twelve years of continuously participating in the EHF competitions, this is the first time that we have qualified for the semi-finals. We achieved it thanks to a good work and development during these seasons.

“The last two years AKABA BERA BERA managed to win two cups – Copa de la Reina and Super Cup of Spain –, so the club wishes and aims to reap greater achievements on a European level.

“The players are developing into a real team and we will have a chance. This time we can’t talk about clear favourites, but Brasov have an extremely competitive and balanced team with great players in all positions.”

“The Romanian team will have to fight hard against AKABA BERA BERA. We play excellent games in San Sebastian with the valuable support of our fans. All players are available at the moment except for the international Cristina Esmeralda Lopez, who is in the final phase of recovery from a knee injury.

“The preparation of the team was intense to exploit our greatest virtues. We want to win and also to display a great European handball show in San Sebastian.”

Brasov

Mariana Tirca (coach):
"We have two very difficult games. We know that Akaba Bera Bera are a strong team, otherwise they wouldn’t have qualified for the semi-finals. I have confidence in my team and I hope that after the two games we will go on to the final."

Larvik

Karl Erik Bøhn (coach):
“We are looking forward to the matches against Podravka with great excitement. Our ways has crossed a few times during the last seasons and we have great respect for our opponent. Their team have a very fine blend of experience and young talent, and with a fantastic crowd of supporters it is always very motivating to play against them. We know that they are very keen on getting back at us for being defeated twice in the last Champions League season.

“Our team performed quite well in the last weeks and the two matches against Havre in the quarterfinals went easier than expected. We were a little bit unlucky during the group stage of the Champions League when our captain, Tonje Larsen, injured after the first match and our pivot and former captain of the national team, Elisabteh Hilmo, was playing knowing that there is a baby on the way. We wish all the best to her! Larsen is back and the team has settled quite well with Heidi Flaatnes as new first choice line player.

“Even if there are a few matches left in our league, our focus is on these two matches. We have already won the championship in Norway and secured a spot in next season’s Champions League. The key is to try to keep all our players in top form and to avoid injuries.”