Oltchim need to be at their best

Oltchim Râmnicu Vâlcea are ready to come out firing on all cylinders after a one month break for all players who played at the EHF Euro 2012 in Serbia.

After winning all six matches in Group A of the Women’s EHF Champions League and qualifying for the Main Round, Oltchim were forced to take a break, as 14 of their 16 players were part of their respective national teams for the EHF EURO 2012 in Serbia.

Only Ramona Farcău, who was not called up for the Romanian national team, and goalkeeper Amandine Leynaud, with a knee injury, were left at home.

Therefore, the team management granted a one-month leave of absence for coach Jakob Vestergaard.

"He didn’t have anyone to train, so we let him go to Denmark in December,” said Petre Berbecaru, Oltchim’s president.

The coach returned in January, as did all of the players, with only one purpose; to win this year’s Women’s EHF Champions League trophy.

Both Marija Jovanović and Katarina Bulatović will try to emulate the form which helped Montenegro win the EHF EURO 2012 for the first time, while Cristina Neagu and the other Romanian players will try to move on from a forgetful campaign, which saw them finish a disappointing 10th place in Serbia.

Oltchim will begin their Main Round games at home, on 3 February, against Hungarian side FTC Rail Cargo Hungaria.

It will be a hard match, according to Oltchim’s left wing, Iulia Curea; "We are a little rusty, as we are returning from a short break, but we are preparing for our Champions League games with a lot of intensity.

"We need to be on our best at the start of the Main Round, as our opponents will be ready to beat us.”

After the first training sessions were complete, Oltchim had to play two matches in the Romanian National League.

Both of them were comfortable wins, 35:24 against Danubius Galați and 30:22 at home against Dunărea Brăila.

However, the Romanian champion’s coach, Jakob Vestergaard, was not in an enthusiastic mood after the two games.

"We had our good moments, but there were also some big mistakes from our players. We need to avoid injuries before the start of the Main Round, because many of our players have small injuries right now.

"But we promise to be at our best against FTC on 3 February,” said Vestergaard.