All-Croatian side ready to cause a stir

Back to the roots with an all-Croatian squad: 23-time domestic champions RK Zagreb have again rejuvenated their already young squad from last season.

As Slovenian international David Spiler (together with Domagoj Srsen) left to Belarusian side Brest Meshkov, the team of the new coach Boris Dvoršek consists only of Croatian players, mainly young talents, led by the Valcic brothers and team captain Zlatko Horvat.

Zagreb added some of the most talented players, who had already been highly successful in younger age category world and European championships, like line player Teo Coric, to the squad, which already is imprinted by youngsters, among them is goalkeeper Filip Ivic and the back court aces Stipe Mandalinic and Ante Kaleb.

The team is in a transition for the future, but aim to be successful in the present. Zagreb aim to add domestic titles to their tally and qualify for the final tournament of the regional SEHA League, which they won in 2013, this season.

The objective in Europe is to reach the Last 16 of the VELUX EHF Champions League after missing the knock-out stage last time around.

In the group phase Zagreb will meet some well-known faces in their arena, with old rivals from Celje and Veszprém and Rhein Neckar Löwen, who they met several times in the competition, alongside Zaporozhye and St. Petersburg.

Ante Ančić, who switched from General Manager to Club Director over the summer, is optimistic ahead of the campaign.

“Our goal is to be among the top four teams in group A and to qualify for the last 16.

“Our opponents are attractive and considering the pretty difficult financial situation everywhere we find it great that at least two of our group opponents are coming from cities near Zagreb.

“Also, our opponents Celje Pivovarna Laško and MKB Veszprém are our old rivals and it will be great to measure our strength with old friends,” said Ančić.

Despite the lack of experience, team captain Zlatko Horvat is confident.

“We have a very young team and we are the only squad in this year’s campaign with no foreign players.

“It is due to the complex financial situation in the club but we still have the quality to finish among the first four teams in our group.

“Our players are very young, they lack experience of playing at the highest level but they are the future of Croatian handball and with the assistance from a couple of older guys in the squad, the team should perform well,” said an expectant Horvat:

Three questions to coach Boris Dvoršek:

What are your expectations for the upcoming season of the VELUX EHF Champions League - concerning your objectives and your group opponents?

Boris Dvoršek: Our goal is to qualify for the last 16. We believe that Rhein-Neckar Löwen and Veszprém will fight for the first two places in the group, but our objective is to grab the third place.

We have the quality and knowledge to overcome Celje Pivovarna Laško and St. Petersburg in the race for the third spot. Last year we failed to qualify for the Last 16, but today our young team is ready to make that big step.

What does the participation in the VELUX EHF Champions League mean to you and your club?

Boris Dvoršek: We have a very young and talented group of Croatian players. For us, playing in the Champions League means gaining experience. Our three year goal is to play in the VELUX EHF FINAL4 and if we are to do so, we have to gain much more experience. In order to be the best you have to play and lose against the best teams in Europe.

What teams are your personal favourites to reach the VELUX EHF FINAL4 and for winning the title this season – and why?

Boris Dvoršek: The favourites are Barcelona, Kiel, Veszprem and PSG, simply because they have enormous individual quality.

All of those teams have fantastic goalkeepers, world class pivots and players who are able to win points on their own.

However, almost every year there is a team or two which are capable of creating an upset such as Vive Targi Kielce did the last season. I will always root for David vs. Goliath.



HC Croatia Osiguranje Zagreb (CRO)

Qualification for the 2013/2014 VELUX EHF Champions League season: Croatian Champion

Coach: Boris Dvoršek, since April 2013 (former coach: Slavko Goluza)

Newcomers (including former club): Sandro Obranovic (NEXE Nasice), Teo Coric (Porec), Leon Susnja (Moslavina), Antonio Kovacevic (Dubrava), Josip Sandrk (Balatonfuredi), Branimir Bouček (Al-Rayyan)

Left the club (including new club): Domagoj Srsen (Brest Meshkov), David Spiler (Brest Meshkov)

VELUX EHF Champions League records:
Participations (including 2013/2014 season): 20
Final (4): 1994/1995, 1996/1997, 1997/1998, 1998/1999
Semi Final (1): 1999/2000
Quarterfinal (5): 2000/2001, 2002/2003, 2003/2004, 2008/2009, 2011/2012
Last 16 (3): 2005/2006, 2009/2010, 2010/2011
Main Round (1): 2007/2008
Group Phase (4): 1993/1994, 2004/2005, 2006/2007, 2012/13

Other EC records:

EHF Cup:
Finalist 2004/2005

Cup Winners Cup:
Semi finalist 2006/2007

Croatian champion: 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013
Croatian Cup winner: 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013
SEHA League winner: 2013