17.04.2008, 05:56
Piedade: "Our time has come"

Hypo's captain believes that this is the right moment to pay Lada back for last year.

Piedade: "Our time has come"

Five weeks without a competitive game. Hypo are a bit unaware of what form they currently have before the first leg of the Champions League semi-finals against Lada Togliatti in Russia. Therefore Eurohandball.com talked to Dani Piedade, captain of the Austrian champions.

Eurohandball.com: Five weeks break after the last game in the Main Round – what’s happened to you since then?

Piedade: We did a lot of hard work in training, especially physically.

We have a bit of heavy legs at the moment, but this will be away in time for the game against Lada. But I think five weeks are too much - we lost our rhythm...

Eurohandball.com: What do you expect from the opponents?

Piedade: Every player thinks positively, but we don’t underestimate Lada.

You cannot play a perfect game, but if we minimise the number of mistakes, it will be very tough for them to beat us...

Eurohandball.com: ...and you have already beaten them twice in Group Phase.

Piedade: Of course! If the whole team gets a superb day, no one will beat us. We just couldn’t manage to get such a day yet. I can assure you: we will fight like lions to reach the final.

Eurohandball.com: And there was a semi-final last year against Lada too...

Piedade: No one can forget that! We lost in the very last second because we couldn’t score from a 7-m shot. We still have that defeat in our hearts, everyone can remember it well. Last year it was not our time yet, but I feel that this year it might be different. We want to get revenge. I feel that we are stronger than last year.

Eurohandball.com: The journey to Togliatti is also special this year. Is it true that you will travel with a charter to Russia?

Pieadade: Yes, that’s right. The whole team will travel with a charter. The flight just takes three hours and thirty minutes. That’s okay, we don’t have so much stress compared to travelling with a normal flight. That’s very important for the team. In addition, we will have around fifty fans with us on the plane who will to support us in that difficult game.

TEXT: Eurohandball.com