“We always believed in ourselves”

They jumped from joy, but they knew before that they will go to the final – as the players of Larvik HK mentioned after winning the second leg of the semi-final at Krim Mercator Ljubljana 27:19 (first leg 22:24). Larvik will face Györi Audi ETO in the final now – including the two Norwegian stalwarts Heidi Løke and Katrine Lunde.

Anja Edin, the back court player of Larvik: "I really had a good feeling before the match and I was absolutely sure that we will win. We were well prepared for this match. It was our enthusiasm and belief, which brought us to the finals. Now I am really looking forward to face our Norwegian country-fellows."

Isabel Blanco, the line player of Larvik: "We have always believed in our victory – and this is why we made it. But I did not expect such a clear result, this was like a dream comes true. We had more power today, as Krim got tired in the crucial stages. The two goal deficit from the first leg did not mean anything to us. But first of all it was our defence, which gave us the confidence to win. Now I am looking forward the biggest possible fight with Heidi Løke, but we have to find clever strategies to manage to win."

Karoline Dyhre Breivang, the left back of Larvik: "It was a perfect day. We had not been satisfied with the first leg. As we play very fast, we knew that we can catch-up the deficit quite quickly – and even when we were down by 1:4 we stuck to our plan. And like always it was the great belief in ourselves. Now two really strong teams face in the final."

Ole Gustav Gjekstad, coach of Larvik HK: "I had expected a clearly better match than one week ago at Larvik, but of course we could not be sure that we go ahead. We had talked before that regardless the intermediate result we go our way and show a perfect performance. And like my players said it was the belief – we had a big number of bosses on the court today. Every player wanted to take responsibility and wanted to be the key to win. Cecilie Leganger backed us by great saves, but all of my players were really good. Now I allow my players a little party.

"Györ had been the best team in this season, regarding their results, but they do not have the stamp “Champions league winner” currently. It will be great to face Heidi and Katrine. And for me it does not matter if we have the home match in the first or second leg, as currently we player calmer and more successful in away matches."

Carmen Martin Berenguer, right wing of Krim: “We are really sad after this match. Leganger was great, but it was not all. I really cannot say what had happened. We caused too many mistakes in attack and directly were punished by their counter-attacks. Larvik’s defence decided the game.

Photo: Uroš Hočevar