17.03.2008, 10:46
The end for both Slovenians

The Champions League finished for both Slovenian teams. Gorenje lost their final match in Montpellier while Celje made a draw against GOG in Zlatorog hall.

The end for both Slovenians

The Slovenian silver medalists showed nice handball once again in Montpellier. On the wings of goalkeeper Morten Seier and a superb defence they stopped many attacks of the rivals. While leading for almost the entire first half, the French were more focused at the end. The hosts took the lead with the goals of Hmam and Honrubia after 30 minutes.

Lost without Vukovic

The second half saw worrying moments for Gorenje. They lost Drago Vukovic short after the break as the player fell on his back and he was taken to hospital. In addition, they also lost control of the match. Montpellier was from that moment on playing easily and reached another victory in the Champions League.

Lucky ending for Celje

Even though the 2004 European Champions wanted to win their last match in front of their spectators, they made too many mistakes in defence, which is not expected on this level.

The quick style of the Danes – run and score - was successful again. The 20-year old Mikkel Hansen was too difficult to handle for the Celje defenders and goalkeeper Aljosa Rezar. The gap was four goals quickly, but the Slovenian champions did not give up. It was again Eduard Koksharov who took everything in his hands and turned the result in Celje’s favour.

Almost the same story repeated in the second half. GOG Gudme were quick and had ideas in attack. On the other hand, Celje had many problems in attack. When Slavko Ivezic substituted David Spiler with Srdjan Trivundza, they improved.

Celje equalised from being four goals down once again. The drama at the end was decided by Koksharov and Sulic.

Sulic scored from the last attack to make it 30:30 and 30 seconds were not enough for GOG to score once again. The teams shared the points at the end.

TEXT: Maja Mastnak, Sportal