Nearing top form

The Austrian Hypo NÖ made it to the Main Round by winning their group. Coach András Németh talks about his experience so far.

Eurohandball.com: What do you think about the form of the team after the group matches respect to the team that reached the final last season?

András Németh: We have not reached that level this time. Last season we started the preparations on 14 July already, so we were absolutely ready for the Champions League by October.

This year, we could get together in September only and you cannot complete a serious preparation like that. The national players came back in different condition, and in addition we take part in the Women’s Regional Handball League.

All these things have an impact on the season. We are not as compact as we were a year ago, which is apparent in our failure to score from the backcourt. I expect much better performances there.

Eurohandball.com: What’s your opinion about your main round group with Viborg, Ikast and Podravka?

Németh: I was convinced already before that there was no good or bad draw. I expect that the teams that qualified from first place (Győr, Hypo, Valcea and Viborg – ed) will reach the semi-finals. Accordingly, together with Viborg, we could also go on. In order to do so we must defeat every team at home and I hope that we will be able to win at least one away game.

Eurohandball.com: The latest about Hypo is that you signed another Brazilian player, Deonise Fachinello. What are your first impressions about her?

Németh: We are testing her right now. She is a backcourt player who is also playing in the centre of the defence. So far she performed rather convincingly.

Eurohandball.com: What about Tímea Tóth? She scored seven goals against Elda. Does it mean that she is in an improving form?

Németh: Definitely, but it was not by chance that she could score the majority of her goals in the first half. The biggest problem is that there is no preparation period behind her as she was at the period of the Olympic Games.

We are working with her, but she still needs to do a lot. I believe that she will back in her old form when she will have completed a preparation period, by the end of the summer.