Our hearts pushed us to the final

Statements after the second leg of the semi-final Audi ETO Györ vs. Oltchim Vâlcea

Jakob Vestergaard, coach of Oltchim Vâlcea:

On the final result:
“As you can imagine we are anything than happy about this victory. It was not enough to proceed. Györ deserve to be in the final, as they were the clearly better team in the first leg. We are very unhappy about the last five or six minutes of the match, as until then we had a perfect chance to make it to the final. But then little things decided – and we are out now.”

On his personal favourite for the final:
“Györ are in the favourite role now, no matter what the opponent will be. But in final everything can happen. It might depend on the atmosphere – and today Györ had a great support from the stands.”

Ambros Martin, coach of Györi Audi ETO:
On the first defeat of the season after 13 straight victories in the EHF Champions League:
“It really does not hurt.”

About the rundown of the match:
“I really have no explanation for anything. At first I really feel sorry for Jakob Vestergaard and his team, as of course I can feel what they feel. They were in lead all the time, and it is a pity that they missed the final after such a performance.

"To be honest, they really deserved to go to the final. But in the end I only believed in my players – and especially the hearts of our players. Even when the head was saying: ‘We are out’, the hearts and the support of our fans pushed us to the finals. Vâlcea started without pressure, they only were focused on winning this match. In the beginning they played a brilliant defence – but in the end our defence was the key. And in the final stages our faith in ourselves was so huge.”

On the favourite’s role in the final:
“I never believe in any theories, so I don’t believe in a theory to be the favourite. After winning the first leg at Bucharest everybody said, we are the favourite in the second leg, especially as we play at home. So there will be no favourite in the final.”

Oana Manea, player Oltchim Vâlcea:
On the final result:
“It was our gift to Györ that they reached the finals, for 55 minutes we had the clear chance to reach the final then we failed. We are really under shock. We cannot believe what has happened. In the final minutes we caused too many mistakes.”

Heidi Löke, player Audi ETO Györ:
On reaching the final for the third straight time after winning the trophy with Larvik in 2011 and losing against Podgorica with Györ in 2012:
“From the bottom of my heart I hope – especially for the club after missing the trophies so often – to win the finals, no matter what team we face. We know from last year that we must be ready from the start.”

On her favourite opponent for the final:
“I will cheer for my former club Larvik on Saturday.”

On the last ten minutes:
“I really cannot remember what had happened. It was crucial to be patient, to be better in defence and to run in the last minutes. Those were the keys to the final. I am so proud of the team.”

Photo: Uroš Hočevar