Ambitious Győr must win

Győri Audi ETO will host a typical Scandinavian team on Sunday. Ikast have eight Norwegian an nine Danish players in the squad including a number of Olympic champions. Coach Csaba Konkoly and his team are not afraid: only victory is acceptable.

Eurohandball.com: I guess the girls are confident after the CL start.

Csaba Konkoly: Absolutely. On one hand they are because they have defeated Skopje, on the other hand because they did it on an away court. In addition, it was a CL game we were looking forward to already. We will need this confidence against Ikast too.

Eurohandball.com: What do you expect from them?

Konkoly: They are a strong team playing in a different style to Skopje. We prepared in advance knowing that we would need an away victory to reach the main round. I hope that we can make another step by defeating Ikast towards the first two positions.

Eurohandball.com: What do we know about the Danes other than that they have a few injuries?

Konkoly: Even the dead raise for a CL game! I have doubts about injury news... We always prepare for their first squad knowing that they have eight Norwegians in their roster, the others are Danes.

They have many Olympic champions and by taking a look at their CL opener, one can tell that their ambitions are the same that they have in Beijing. We have also seen their defeat against Viborg and seen that they have a very quick counter attack game based on a solid defence. We have to do against this. In attack we have to get through Hammerseng and Nyberg, the centre of their defence.

Eurohandball.com: Why do you think they are only 6th in Denmark with so many stars in the team?

Konkoly: I focus on their strengths. I also know that Hammerseng is often there only in defence and they make many substitutions. The young Mette Sjøberg plays on these occasions.

Personally, I do not substitute Görbicz even after a few mistakes because I know that she is able to decide a game.

Anyway, Champions League is totally different. Ikast was not successful in Europe last season and now they put the emphasis on this. They can do it with their Scandinavian lifestyle: while we want to win everything at all costs, Hungarian Cup, League and do well in the CL, they are happy to foucs on one of these.

Eurohandball.com: Gabi Rotis was on court again in the Hungarian League. How’s she doing?

Konkoly: We will keep her for the domestic games at first. She needs to get back to practice. Her dynamism and team play is good, but her shooting power is far from the Champions League level.

Eurohandball.com: What about the injured Szölösi és Orsolya Herr?

Konkoly: Patrícia Szölösi began rehabilitations this week and she will return in February. Herr is getting better and she will return these days.

The other goalkeeper, Viktória Oguntoye, did well in the Hungarian League, but that’s not a game against Ikast. We hope that Pálinger will be in top form as she was the key against Skopje too together with the central defence.

This will be the basis against the Danes too. We have big ambitions and we need to take the two points for them. This group has three teams with a chance, Zvezda, Ikast and Győr, and only two of them can qualify.