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BERLIN - Comments from Faroe Islands head coach Peter Bredsdorff-Larsen (DEN) and centre back Elias Ellefsen á Skipagøtu (FAR), Slovenia head coach Uros Zorman (SLO) and centre back Miha Zarabec (SLO), Poland head coach Marcin Lijewski (POL) and left back Szymon Sicko (POL), and Norway head coach Jonas Wille (NOR) and right back Harald Reinkind (NOR) at media calls on Friday 12 January.
FAROE ISLANDS
Peter Bredsdorff-Larsen (DEN) - head coach, Faroe Islands
On the debut match at a major tournament for the Faroe Islands:
"I want to congratulate the Faroe Islands for the great, great game. For the islands, for the people and the great audience who were present in Berlin and also for the players and the team on the debut at the Men's EHF EURO 2024."
On the performance and the negative as well as the positive things from the loss to Slovenia:
"Tough match, but also a very fine match as we succeeded in a lot of things in the match. For example, in counter attacks, running back. In that aspect, we won it easily against big team as Slovenia is and it is a great achievement for a very small team.
“We were happy with a lot of things in the game and of course, we were unhappy with [Miha] Zarabec and [Aleks] Vlah's performances who were too good and they made a difference for Slovenia along with their goalkeeper, [Klemen] Ferlin."
On facing Norway and their squad of stars:
"They are big stars and that is why they play in big clubs and have such an experience. Also, they are playing in the EHF Champions League and in other strong championships and that's simply how it is.
“A lot of our players are playing in the second league in certain nations and of course, it's a very big challenge, but I think the team stood together and we made a great performance against Slovenia, worked very hard and we are very proud."
Elias Ellefsen á Skipagøtu (FAR) – centre back
On his individual performance and scoring nine goals against Slovenia:
"It was OK, but if we want to win we need to do better, I made some stupid mistakes in the game and I can't make those mistakes if we are to win against a team like Slovenia is.
“But it is our first game and we lose by three, it's not catastrophic, but we wanted to win, we believed in our chances."
On the expectations ahead of the match against Norway:
"It is going to be tough, we know that they are a world class team, but we believe in ourselves and we will try to give them a really tough match."
On playing in front of 5,000 Faroese fans:
"It was an amazing day, they were really loud yesterday and we are proud that we had so many people and we want to give them a big thanks for coming to support, they are simply amazing."
SLOVENIA
Uros Zorman (SLO) - head coach
On the match against Poland:
"The Poles and Faroese are completely different. I don't want to predict anything, but in terms of playing style, the Poles suit us better than the Faroe Islands, because they are taller, slower and tougher, which suits us better. On Thursday, the Poles played without a left-handed player in the position of right winger. It will definitely be different against us."
Miha Zarabec (SLO) – centre back
On the performance against the Faroe Islands and the upcoming match against Poland:
"The game against the Faroe Islands is behind us, there is no point in looking too much into it. We know it wasn't our best performance.
“What's important is what's coming. We can show much more than on Thursday. On Saturday, we will have a clear goal in front of us. All of us in the national team are well aware of why we are here."
POLAND
Marcin Lijewski (POL) – head coach
On their expectations ahead of the match against Slovenia:
"If we want to go to the next round, this is the match we have to win. It doesn't matter how, we need to do everything we can to win this game. I am going to sit down and I am going to watch yesterday's match against the Faroe Islands and then, we going to try and make some tactic approaches."
On the areas Poland need to improve:
"Especially in offence. Yesterday was not bad in defence against such a good team and against such back players like the Norwegians, it wasn't bad. And, tomorrow we have to defend the same way and play much, much better in attack."
On whether younger players are more affected by the pressure ahead of an important game:
"I hope not and I do whatever I can do take the pressure away from the players, but every person is a different story and every person has his own head and I don't know what they think inside. I wish they try to think the way I think."
Szymon Sicko (POL) - left back
On his expectations ahead of the match against Slovenia:
"In this moment it is the most important match for us because if we lose it is over for us, so we need to focus on this game. They play completely different than Norway, they have not too much physical team, but they are good with pivots and of course, we have to play good in defence."
On where they need to improve:
"Of course, we have chance to win and I think we need to be calm in some situations to play longer in positional attack, so that's all. In defence we played good, I also think our goalkeepers were good."
On the possibility of losing to Slovenia:
"We don't think about that, we want to win and play in the next round. So, that's sport and we cannot think about losing the match and to end the tournament tomorrow."
Jonas Wille (NOR) - head coach
On the match against the Faroe Islands:
"I expect a tough match because we are meeting a team that's full of motivation and energy. And also we expect to have many duels against Elias Ellefsen á Skipagøtu, so I think that will be the key factor of the game."
On how much of a different challenge the Faroes Islands will be compared to Poland:
"This match for instance we possibly will meet seven versus six. And Poland have couple of distance shooters, while the Faroe Islands have more one on one players that create three against two and two against one situations, so it's totally different kind of attacking play. Also, Poland has a more even team, but the key players in the Faroe Islands are top, top world class players."
On matching Norway’s record for their biggest-ever EURO win:
"I didn't know that [regarding the record], but I don't think it changes anything. It gives us confidence and instead of feeling insecure, we feel that are at the level that we are supposed to be, but still we have a lot of things to improve, so I don't think it changes anything.
On their aims for the tournament:
“If we lost this match [vs Poland], it would have created some insecurity. This is just a good start, and nothing more than that, and there are so many matches left and so small margins between being number eight and number one and number two."
Harald Reinkind (NOR) - right back
On the upcoming match against the Faroe Islands:
"I expect a completely different game than against Poland, we play against a lot of smaller and faster guys than the Polish guys. Also, I think they will play seven against six and they will try to get a lot of tempo in the game as well speed. I expect that we will be running a lot.
On the possibility of equalling or passing Bjarte Myrhol's record for the most appearances for Norway at the EHF EURO:
"It's an honour for me to play for the national team and I feel it's a privilege to be here, but I didn't know about this statistic. But that's cool and I want to have many more matches as well."
On the Men's EHF EURO 2024 being played in Germany:
"It's cool as they have a culture for spectators in Germany and that's very special, at least in handball. We play every week in full arenas and the spectators are loud and cheering, although not always for us. It's almost full every time so I think it will be better and better during the championship and I think it's cool that there are so many German fans as well."
On how far Norway can go at the Men's EHF EURO 2024:
"It's good for us to have this underdog role as no one expects us to get the gold medal, but we are know that we are capable of it and we know if we get the flow and the passion, we can go all the way."
TEXT: EHF / Filip Mishov
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