Superb goalkeeping guaranteed

If there’s one unlucky club in the Women’s European Cup competitions than it must be the Hungarian flagship from Györ. Since 1999 they reached not less than six finals in total in the three competitions EHF Champions League, Cup Winner’s Cup and EHF Cup – but were not a single time able to raise the trophy in the end.

Their greatest success was the EHF Champions League final in 2009 where they really had more than one hand on the cup after winning the first leg away in Viborg with a two goal difference. But then they lost 23:26 on home soil.

For this season the Hungarians are ready for a new attempt to win their first ever international title.

By signing Norwegian Olympics and four times European Champion Katrine Lunde Haraldsen from current EHF Champions League title holder Viborg HK, the club can count on a goalkeeper dream duo in the goal. Lunde Haraldsen will be teaming up with the outstanding Hungarian international Katalin Palinger.

“We now have two world class players on the goalkeeper position. I suppose that this will give us a fantastic base for our defence,” Coach Csaba Konkoly said.

The second newcomer for Györ is Ana Kros from Krim Ljubljana. As only two players (Tomori and Deaki) left the club, the team is well-rehearsed for their national and international competitions.

Csaba Konkoly has set two goals for the season, to reach the EHF Champions League Final and on a domestic level defend the title and the cup in Hungary.

Despite this great squad Konkoly still slows down the euphoria: “I believe that on the international field there are currently a lot of strong teams. Frankly, there are no easy opponents in the EHF Champions League. In our group together with Krim, Podravka and Zvenigorod, we will have anything but a smooth way to go through to the Main Round. It will be a massive and difficult task.”

In the last season Györ missed their second consecutive EHF Champions League final by losing to Valcea in the fourth semi-final participation in a row.

Good news for the team is that another top star has recovered from her long term injuries: playmaker Anita Görbicz, former World Handball Player of the year is back.

Another fact that makes Konkoly feel good: “Currently we don’t have any injured players, so we could do an excellent job in the preparation phase. The new players were integrated quickly to the team. So we are ready to do our best in all fields. And I hope that it will be enough to go through to the EHF Champions League final.”

Key facts

Newcomers: Katrine Lunde Haraldsen (from Viborg HK), Ana Gros (from RK Krim)

Left the club: Zsuzsanna Tomori, Dora Deaki (both to FTC Budapest)

Coach: Csaba Konkoly (HUN, since 2007)

Find more information here.