Fresh faces in Krim

After an injury ridden first half of the last season Krim rallied their troops and reached the semi-final of the Women's EHF Champions League. A new season beckons the serial Slovenian champions and there are already some familiar occurances in Ljubljana.

There are again a few fresh faces in the squad, which in the new campaign will have a strong Romanian presence.

Line player Oana Manea (from Vâlcea), right back Patricia Vizitiu and goalkeeper Talida Tolnai (both form Üsküdar Istanbul) with the Montenegrin playmaker Anđela Bulatović (Budućnost) are set to replace Lyudmila Bodnieva (pictured right before her last match for Krim) and Marina Vergelyuk Strile — who have both retired from the game) — Swedish goalkeeper Gabriella Kain and German left back Susann Müller.

New season, old problems

Health problems continue in the new campaign. The excellent Croatian goalie Jelena Grubišić is recovering from a knee operation, and Spanish winger Carmen Martin underwent a shoulder surgery. They are both set to miss the first half of the season.

Croatian bomber Andrea Penezić was also under the knife because of the reccuring problems in her ankle, but expected to be fully fit in early September at the latest.

These developments prompted a switch of two Slovenian national team players. Right-wing Neli Irman arrived from Zagorje on a loan and line player Sanja Gregorc replaced her at the Slovenian vice-champions.

Playmaker Alja Janković will take a season long sabbatical from handball and focus on her degree.

Tiselj with a new hand on the bench

Head-coach Tone Tiselj assembled the team on 22 July and the girls are now building their basic stamina. An additional "boot camp" in the Zreče spa follows since 5 August, and after that there will be a number of friendly matches to tweak the form and style before the first group matches in the Women's EHF Champions League.

"The main wish is for us to finally be all healthy and to train and compete with a complete roster," reveals Tiselj, who has a new assistant. Branka Mijatović was the club captain during Krim's most successfull period and has won two European titles in 2001 and 2003 under Tiselj's command.

"We have a quality squad with two equally good playes for every position, so we intend to play aggresively and with high pace all 60 minutes. Our main power is our team-spirit."

Priorities set

Krim will no doubt be the only real favorite for the two domestic titles and to that want to add another successfull European season.

"In the last season we've managed to beat all the teams we have played against despite all of our injury woes, except Győr, who later became the winners. We have more experience now and want to be a true contender again. Our first goal, if all will be good injury-wise, are the semi-finals. From then on it can be anybody's game," Tiselj added.