Sigurmannsson predicts “a crazy Sunday”

For 49 and a half minutes the first leg of the VELUX EHF Champions League Quarter-final between HC Vardar and MOL-Pick Szeged appeared to be an equal affair with good chances for Szeged to turn the tables in the second leg at home.

Vardar had been leading throughout by one to three goals, not a big lead for the Macedonian side to take with them to Hungary.

But the last 10 and a half minutes changed everything: Vardar won that period 8:2 and handed Szeged a 31:23 defeat, putting the Hungarian side under heavy pressure before the return match on home court Sunday evening.

“All of a sudden, we started to shoot on the wrong chances”

“I am not really sure what happened in those last 10, 11 minutes,” Szeged’s Icelandic left wing Stéfan Sigurmannsson says. “We were down 23:21 and seemed to have Vardar on a short leash but then, all of a sudden, we started to shoot on the wrong chances and make the wrong decisions in general, while our defence also started to fail.”

But why did the Hungarian top team fall apart like that in those last minutes?

“It is hard to explain. I hope it was not because we were stressed, as there was no real reason for that,” says Icelandic international, who turns 29 this month. “However, you have to remember that the Jane Sandanski in Skopje is an extremely difficult place to play, and neither should we forget that Vardar have a very good team. Things can happen very fast there.”

The last part of that match is still “a mystery”

Still, that last part of the match in Skopje remains “a mystery” to Sigurmannsson.

“Apart from those last minutes of that match, we have played really well this season, and we have a very good team, where I feel really well and like very much to play. It was really peculiar,” says Sigurmannsson, who is paying his second season in Szeged after joining from Aalborg Håndbold in 2017.

“The fact that we have a really good team is also one of the main reasons, why I have not given up on reaching the VELUX EHF FINAL4 yet. In fact, I think we have a very good chance to proceed after all,” he says.

Sigurmannsson is aware what Szeged have to do better in the return leg on Sunday at 19:00 CET (live on ehfTV.com).

“First of all we will have to defend better than we did in Skopje. That way, we will also get to more of the fast breaks, which we will need to turn the result,” he says. “If we can be four or five goals up at half-time, we will really be on our way to something big, I am sure.”

Also, the home advantage in the Varosi Sportsarnok can play in Szeged’s favour.

“Our fans will play a very important part. We have some really fantastic fans, and they will play an even more important role Sunday evening. It is going to be a crazy Sunday in Szeged,” he says.

“Reaching the EHF FINAL4 for the first time would be so great”

While Szeged have turned the tables with Telekom Veszprém HC in the Hungarian domestic league - winning the championship last season and currently leading by seven points again - Veszprém seem to have the upper hand in Europe.

They beat SG Flensburg-Handewitt by six goals in the first leg of their quarter-final and seem very close to qualifying for the VELUX EHF FINAL4.

“In this particular case I do not think much about Veszprém,” Sigurmannsson says. “What is important right now is for us to qualify for the EHF FINAL4, where we have never been before. Going to Cologne would just be awesome.”

Sigurmannsson played with the Icelandic national team at the LANXESS arena in Cologne during the World Championship in January.

“I would really like to experience that great atmosphere again,” he says. “Reaching the EHF FINAL4 for the first time in the history of the club would just be so great, and we all still believe in the chance.”