Countdown, part 15: Pick Szeged

A tough group last season meant they just missed out on qualifying for the Last 16 in the 2011/2012 VELUX EHF Champions League, but Pick Szeged are aiming high this season. 

The Hungarian runners-up have signed top Swedish star Jonas Larholm from Aalborg in Denmark, as well as the Croat Alen Blažević. Coach László Skaliczki has high expectations especially for Larholm, who is expected to lead Pick to the Last 16, as well as meet their domestic goals of reaching the league play-off and the cup final.

The Swedish international said about his transfer to Szeged: “I have played in Spain and Denmark, and now I wanted to go to a different and new European country. At the same time it was important for me to play for a high level team.

“Pick Szeged have a good team that has been participating in VELUX EHF Champions League for several years. This season we have a tough group with exciting opponents. Despite the strong group we would like to go to the next round.”

And managing director Richárd Mezei shares those hopes and dreams: “We have a quite difficult group but our goal is to finish in the top four. The most important matches will be the home matches against Barcelona and Füchse Berlin. If we perform well in these matches we will be able to get a really good result in the Group Phase.”

But Pick lost one of their most inspiring players, Máté Lékai, to Slovenian runners-up Celje. And although Szeged had five Olympians in their squad, including three Hungarian semi-finalists and silver medallist Larholm, the club is satisfied with their preparation.

Without the Olympic participants Szeged finished sixth in the prestigious Champions Cup in Germany, but had the tournament’s top scorer Zsolt Balogh (25 goals) in their squad.

Just after the Olympics, Pick ranked fourth at the famous tournament in Doboj behind Barcelona, Leon and Chekhovskie Medvedi. And finally the Hungarian runners-up finished second at the “Handball Masters” in Grenoble, France, only topped by Chambery Savoie.

After those successes team captain Attila Vadkerti is confident that his team will be able to take the important points on home ground: “This will be a group in which every team can beat any of the other teams at home. This is why it is quite difficult to predict the result of the group.”

For experienced Slovak Frantisek Šulc, the back court axis has improved due to the Larholm transfer: “Our goal is to qualify for the Last 16. In my opinion this group is even better than our group last year. I think and hope that our team is also better.

“Now we are stronger in the back court positions and we have two good players for each position. This is a very important factor in such a good competition as VELUX EHF Champions League.”

Three questions for coach László Skaliczki:
ehfCL.com: What are your expectations for the upcoming season of the VELUX EHF Champions League - concerning your objectives and your group opponents?
László Skaliczki: The previous season was particularly good for us to learn. We gained experience of the style, speed and tactics used by the top European teams, and we would like to use this experience this season. I hope that our new players can add extra impulse to the team and our style will be more dynamic, more organised and we will have more possibilities to vary with substitutions. Our goal is to qualify for the knock-out stage and we would like to serve our fantastic audience especially during home matches.

ehfCL.com: What does the participation in the VELUX EHF Champions League mean to you and your club?
László Skaliczki: Participating in the VELUX EHF Champions League is a huge challenge, a big responsibility and a great experience for me. And the coaches, players and also club leaders can gain important experience from this competition. Comparing ourselves to other players and teams can create a competitive situation and gives us an excellent chance to learn and improve our skills.

ehfCL.com: What teams are your personal favourites to reach the VELUX EHF FINAL4 and for winning the title this season – and why?
László Skaliczki: The defending champions THW Kiel are a very strong team this season too. Füchse Berlin, MKB Veszprém and Barcelona are also good and those teams have the chance to reach the VELUX EHF FINAL4 unless they meet earlier during the competition.

Pick Szeged (HUN)
Qualification for the 2012/2013 VELUX EHF Champions League season: Hungarian runners-up
Coach: László Skaliczki, since 2010, goalkeepers’ coach: Haris Porobić, since 2002
Newcomers: Jonas Larholm (AaB Handball/DEN), Alen Blažević (AD Ciudad de Guadalajara/ESP), Marinko Kekezović (Orosházi FKSE/HUN), Zsolt Balogh (B Braun Gyöngyös/HUN)
Left the club: Máté Lékai (RK Celje Pivovarna Lasko/SLO), Ádám Bajorhegyi (Váci KSE/HUN), Szabolcs Törő (Grundfos Tatabánya Kézilabda Klub/HUN), Dušan Beočanin (ULZ Sparkasse Schwaz/AUT)

VELUX EHF Champions League records:
Participations (including 2012/2013 season): 11
Quarter-final (2): 1996/1997, 2003/2004
Last 16 (4): 2004/2005, 2005/2006, 2006/2007, 2010/2011
Main Round (1): 2007/2008
Group Phase (3): 2008/2009, 2009/2010, 2011/2012

Other EC records:
Cup Winners Cup:
Semi-final: 1983, 1984, 1994
Quarter-final: 1978, 2003, 2009

Hungarian champion: 1996, 2007, runners-up: 1985, 1994, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012
Hungarian Cup winner: 1977, 1982, 1983, 1993, 2006, 2008

Further information

Find more information about Pick Szeged HERE
Join the growing community of handball fans of Facebook!
www.facebook.com/ehf.champions.league