FTC-bound Kovacsics: "I don’t see myself as a winger"

Reigning Hungarian champions Ferencváros announced the signing of Györ’s young playmaker Aniko Kovacsics, who leaves her foster club after ten years to once again play in her favoured position.

Aniko Kovacsics is undoubtedly Hungary’s most important player, whose recent struggles were partly due to the Györ starlet’s lack of playing time in her favoured position.

The 24-year-old was a Champions League runner-up before she graduated from high school taking over playmaking duties from the injured club legend Anita Görbicz at the young age of 18.

Rising through the ranks in Györ’s academy the Nagyatád-born Kovacsics reached the final of the Women’s 19 EHF EURO 2009 and earned her first senior cap the same year.

The smart youngster flourished in Györ and quickly picked up the pace of top matches and learned from the best centre backs in the game.

She played behind Andrea Lekic, Nycke Groot and Anita Görbicz and picked up everything she could and also became a tough defender.

But with foreign stars swarming the back positions in Györ coach Ambros Martin, who was well aware of the importance of his up-and-coming centre back, decided to deploy Kovacsics  in the left wing.

She did fairly well there, but as she said in her public goodbye letter to Györ she doens’t see herself as a winger.

Aniko Kovacsics’s transfer to Ferencváros is a bigger move than Tomori’s departure in the opposite direction.

She has had enough and rightly so.

Since she was restricted to the role of a winger at Györ Kovacsics had to play there in the national team, too, which is obviously was one of the causes for Hungary’s World Championship agony.

Her heartfelt open letter published by Hungary’s sports daily, Nemzeti Sport addressed what all Hungarian fans of handball already knew: "I am worried that if I play one more year as a winger I will never be as good as I could be as a playmaker."

Domestic, and in this year’s Women’s EHF Champions League Quarter-final rivals, Ferencváros, were quick to offer her a free, yet not vacant playmaking position.

Kovacsics will partner fellow Hungarian international Zita Szucsanszki in the middle but her rival is: first, an excellent player with massive roots in Ferencváros, and second the life partner of their coach, Gabor Elek.

Elek, a club legend himself is smart enough to handle the situation, which has just got a tad more important as the Ferencváros coach is joint coach of the national team alongside Ambros Martin.

The coaches had their first EURO qualifier of the year on Wednesday 11 March, and Hungary got revenge for their elimination from the World Championship to Poland, winning the away tie 27:24. It seems the eternal brotherhood of the two nations will be put aside for another 60 minutes on 13 March.

However, browsing through the squad two lines immediately caught the eyes of handball friends in Hungary.

Centre backs: Zita Szucsánszki (FTC-Rail Cargo Hungaria), Anikó Kovacsics (Győri Audi ETO KC)
Left wings: Ildikó Erdősi (Siófok KC), Nadine Schatzl (FTC-Rail Cargo Hungaria)