Englert: going for the 9th Hypo title

She’s the first German player ever in Hypo Niederösterreich and she’s the second German player ever to reach semi-finals of the Women’s Champions league (Grit Jurack/Viborg was the first in 2006). The objective of Hypo is clear: after 8 European titles (in addition to 2 Champions Trophy victories and 31 Austrian titles), they want to win again.

Goalkeeper Sabine Englert talks to Eurohandball.com before the semi-finals against the Russian team from Lada Togliatti.

Eurohandball.com: Before the start of the season you didn’t exactly know what to expect in Hypo. Now it seems that everything is going all right. Are you satisfied?

Englert: Yes, our objective was to reach the CL semi-finals and we have fulfilled this wish. Our team play very well, although there were some problems in understanding all these languages at the very beginning.

Eurohandball.com: It was obvious before the start of the season that Hypo would be dominant in the Austrian league. But did you expect that Hypo are the only unbeaten CL team – including men and women – after 12 match days?

Englert: Everybody in our team dreams of winning the Champions League. We work hard for this objective. From this point of view it’s an advantage for us that we don’t have such tough matches in the domestic league and we have the chance to carry out better preparations on for the CL.

Eurohandball.com: You played against top teams such as Viborg or Zvezda in the Main Round – and won. Did you expect more resistance from these opponents?

Englert: Yes, of course. But in these matches it was always the same: the better the opponent was the better we played.

Eurohandball.com: What are the strengths of Hypo this season?

Englert: Especially our team spirit. In case a player has a bad day, another one is there to play even better.

Eurohandball.com: In the semi-final against Lada Togliatti your team are favourites – can you cope with the pressure?

Englert: We will certainly play this role, because we have to as the only unbeaten team in this competition. We played twice against Lada in the group phase and won both matches, so we are the favourites. But we have to know that Lada improved a lot for the Main Round, for example by beating Valcea.

But we have another special motivation: last season Hypo were eliminated by Lada in the semi-finals by one goal. And this season we want to be the lucky ones.

Eurohandball.com: Hypo has been waiting for eight years for another (5th) CL title, which would be the 9th European title of the club. Are you strong enough to win this season?

Englert: Our motto this season is very simple: “go for nine”. We have a great team and we will try everything.

Eurohandball.com: What would be more important for you: a CL title with Hypo or a medal with Germany at the Olympic Games in Beijing?

Englert: You can’t compare these competitions because these are two different teams. Every title, every medal has its own special meaning.

Eurohandball.com: National league, Champions League, national team… Is it hard to concentrate on every match when you have so many top matches a season?

Englert: Sometimes it’s hard, but when you face the objectives, then it’s easy again.

Eurohandball.com: What does it feel to be the first German player ever in Austria? Is there a certain relationship between Germans and Austrians?

Englert: I enjoy living in Vienna. And as we have so many nationalities in our team, it doesn’t matter that you are German or something else.