Good performance under pressure, all the time

One of Pick Szeged’s key players, František Šulc, is the ninth top scorer in the VELUX EHF Champions League so far this season.

He has scored 33 goals, just like Zagreb’s player Zlatko Horvat. Last season, after the end of the group phase, both players also lead the top scorer list with 69 goals.

This season, Pick Szeged and HC Croatia Osiguranje Zagreb meet in the Group Phase and both teams are fighting for a place in the Last 16.

The two top scorers know each other from the top scorers list but on Saturday they will meet on the court and their performances can be decisive. As a preview of Group D’s important encounter, František Šulc spoke to ehfCL.com.

ehfCL.com: Before signing for Pick you had never played at such a high level. How would you evaluate your performance after two and a half seasons in Szeged?

František Šulc: When I came here in 2010, big changes happened in this team, and perhaps the management had to run the team with less money than before.

But Szeged is still among the best teams in Europe and this is the most important aspect for me. I am proud of the fact that I could contribute to this with my good performances. So I think I can be satisfied with my seasons in Szeged.

ehfCL.com: You started to play in the VELUX EHF Champions League here, and became one of the key players of Szeged. You have already been chosen as the best foreigner player of the Hungarian Championship twice. May we say that this is the top of your career?

František Šulc: Perhaps this is the “top of my career” although I don’t really like this expression, because my career is still running right now.

I played in Düsseldorf earlier and we played in the Bundesliga so it wasn’t a bad team, but Szeged is better for sure.

Here I have the chance to play in the Champions League and it is a bigger challenge for me. This is the highest level in handball and I can say that I have reached my highest performance level in Szeged.

ehfCL.com: You are 33 years old. Is it possible that this is the peak and the end of your career at the same time?

František Šulc: I have a year and a half left from my contract and many things can happen, but I usually say that I want to finish my career in Szeged.

I am this kind of man, I don’t want to play in smaller teams, I want to end my career as a handball player on the top, and after that maybe I will concentrate on another career in something else.

ehfCL.com: You had a short break as an international player. How was the return?

František Šulc: I finished my participation in the national team for a while but things changed when a new coach was appointed.

The coach is a good friend of mine, we talked a lot, and after that I said ok, I would try to help when we had important matches.

Unfortunately whenever I joined the national team I fought with smaller injuries, so the last two training camps were quite unlucky for me.

During a qualification match for the EHF EURO, I had a knee injury. I may say that more or less everything is all right now, but sometimes I feel my knee a little bit.

But in handball and in sports you always feel some pain, so I am lucky that this is my only problem at present, and I don’t have bigger injuries.

ehfCL.com: Pick stands at the bottom of the group in VELUX EHF Champions League. What do you think about the reasons?

František Šulc: Before the beginning of the season I said that the biggest favourites in our group were Barcelona and Berlin and the other three teams were on the same level as us.

We have had only one match at home against these three teams, and we won. After that we played with the best teams of the group in Szeged, and we didn’t manage to get any points.

I think that we still have opportunities; the most important matches are ahead of us, this Saturday with Zagreb and after that against Minsk in the new year.

ehfCL.com: In which factors should you improve the team’s playing style?

František Šulc: We definitely have to play little bit better in attack, because what is enough in the Hungarian League is not enough in the Champions League.

We have some young players and sometimes they don’t see this difference. Sometimes they take positions from which they can score goals during the Hungarian matches but they cannot do the same in international matches, because this is another level.

Furthermore, we have to play better together, we should use more passes. Two players have to work for another and we have to wait for good chances and not to shoot after two or three passes. In defence, we should be more aggressive there.

ehfCL.com: The match with Zagreb can be decisive concerning fourth place in the group. Is there a lot of pressure on you to win on Saturday?

František Šulc: Yes, of course this match means a lot, but we live and play under pressure all the time.

Although we don’t have so many good opponents in the Hungarian Championship than we do in the VELUX EHF Champions League, we are a professional team, everybody expects good performances and victories from us. Those players who cannot cope with this pressure cannot play for Pick Szeged.