 Stojković: "We'll fight like David against Goliath"
Polish champions Vive Targi Kielce made history by qualifying for the VELUX EHF FINAL4 in Cologne for the first time.
In just a couple of years, the Polish club have made great strides towards the biggest club handball event in Europe, with ambitious boss Bertus Servaas being the driving force.
After beating Wisla 3:0 in the Polish league finals series, Kielce head to the LANXESS arena as an outsider, but Rastko Stojković does not see it that way.
“We began the final part of this season in very good form. We are 100 per cent ready for all the necessary efforts and our performances in the play-off final against Wisla showed that.
“This season we have 16 players, but 16 top quality players. Squad performance doesn’t depend on two or three main players anymore, so we can play more matches at the highest level in succession, save energy and stay fresh.
“Our first goal was to win the Polish Championship, as we knew that is a ticket for the Champions League next season. Now, we are concentrating on Cologne and Barcelona,” the Serbian line-player told ehfCL.com.
Stojković was one of the international pioneers in Polish handball, when he arrived from German club HSG Nordhorn in 2009 and he is not worried about being the only newcomers to the LANXESS arena.
“It is easy to come to the conclusion that we will be the team with the smallest reputation in Cologne. Everyone wanted Kielce in the semi-final, I know that.
“We didn’t think about them and even now, we are going there to give our best and write a new chapter in our club’s history, no matter who the opposition.
“We’ll fight like David against Goliath. If we play our best handball, we will have a chance against Barcelona. I believe in my friends and teammates.
“We could take that one step forward, maybe even two. Nobody believed that Kielce would play in Cologne, but here we are,” said the 31-year-old.
Kielce face FC Barcelona Intersport in the first semi-final on Saturday, 1 June at 15:15 hrs. and Stojković is under no illusions about the enormity of the task ahead.
“What can we say about them? We know everything, great team, great players. They have shown their class many times at the highest possible level. Their fantastic goalkeepers are maybe their biggest advantage at this tournament. However, as I said before, there is always a but,” conludes Stojković.
TEXT: Žika Bogdanović / cor
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