A taste of Brazil in Baia Mare

After placing fourth and bottom of Group A in this year’s Women’s EHF Champions League Group Matches, HCM Baia Mare has big ambitions for the seasons to come.

The Romanian club already managed to stock up on left wings two weeks ago, confirming the signings of Camilla Herrem from Byasen EH and Valentina Elisei from CSM Cetate Devatrans.

However, the team’s management promised to create a stellar team in the northwest and fully delivered on Saturday, when Baia Mare announced two new signings.

Both Alexandra do Nascimento and Barbara Arenhart signed two-year contracts with HCM Baia Mare and will join the team in the summer, after their deals with Austrian champions Hypo Niederosterreich run out. The two Brazilian players will be the first world champions to play in the Romanian League, after winning the title in Serbia last December.

Alexandra Do Nascimento, 32, a very experienced right wing, has played for the last ten years at the club, winning 10 Austrian titles, reaching the Women's EHF Champions League Final (2008) and the Women’s Cup Winners’ Cup (2013).

Do Nascimento was also the World Championship top scorer in 2011 and the World Handball Player of the Year in 2012.

Arenhart, 27, has been at Hypo since 2011 and, after winning the world title with Brazil, was selected on the All-Star Team of the tournament.

"Baia Mare is a city that breathes handball. It is a good project, with great ambitions and we hope to reach the final of the Women’s EHF Champions League in 2015.

"The Romanian league is very strong and I can become a better player there," Arenhart told Brazilian publication Globo Esporte.

Another piece of good news also came for Baia Mare on Saturday, when both goalkeeper Paula Ungureanu and right wing Adriana Nechita penned one-year contracts, with a player option for the next season.

”We are happy that very good players are signing with Baia Mare, as we grow more stronger. Baia Mare has big ambitions and great results can be only achieved with quality players,” concluded Nechita.