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MANNHEIM - Comments from Spain head coach Jordi Ribera (ESP), left back Daniel Dujshebaev (ESP) and goalkeeper Gonzalo Perez de Vargas (ESP), Croatia head coach Goran Perkovac (CRO), centre back Tin Lucin (CRO), right back Ivan Martinovic (CRO), Austria head coach Ales Pajovic (SLO), goalkeeper Constantin Möstl (AUT), left back Lukas Hutecek (AUT), Romania head coach Xavier Pascual (ESP), goalkeeper Ionut Ciprian Iancu (ROU) and right back Demis Cosmin Grigoras (ROU) after Austria beat Romania 31:24 and Croatia beat Spain 39:29 in preliminary round group B at the SAP Arena on Friday.
SPAIN vs CROATIA
Jordi Ribera (ESP) – head coach
On the loss to Croatia:
“While today's outcome is disappointing, credit goes to the Croatian team for their excellent performance. Unfortunately, our defensive play wasn't up to par throughout the entire match. We lacked coordination and contact in defence, failing to disrupt the Croatian attack and allowing them to gradually build a lead.”
On the next steps:
“Although it's a sad day for the team, it's essential to remember that this was just the first match, and the competition is lengthy. Our primary goal now is to secure qualification for the next round, and we are optimistic that our performance will improve in the upcoming match.”
Daniel Dujshebaev (ESP) - left back
On the defeat against Croatia:
“Croatia were better from the start to the end. There were some moments when we were fighting, but their offence and defence was amazing. We need to keep working and see what went wrong today.”
On Croatia's defence:
“We know Croatia always have a strong defence and maybe we were not ready for a game like this, and this fight.”
On Spanish defence:
“Defence is the work of the whole team, and we failed today. And we failed our goalkeeper. We have one of the best goalkeepers in the world but if we don't perform good, they also can't be good. No one in the team was up for this match today.”
Gonzalo Perez de Vargas (ESP) - goalkeeper
On the game:
“I feel bad. This is one of my toughest defeats with the national team. Croatia were better than us in every aspect of the game. When they made a lead we could not get back and it is a pity cause we knew how important this game is.”
On the Spanish goalkeepers' performance:
“I am not going to blame anyone after this match. Everyone was bad, especially me on the goal. We have to improve in both ways if we want to make it better. It is going to be a long night trying to analyse what happened.”
Goran Perkovac (CRO) – head coach
On the result:
“Playing in front of a large crowd of Croatian spectators was a positive experience for us. We anticipated the lively atmosphere, as we always enjoy the support of our fans. The SAP Arena is a pleasant venue, and it will serve as our home for the upcoming two games.”
Tin Lucin (CRO) - centre back
On the 39:29 win against Spain:
“We did not want to make a drama out of this match. We knew the importance but even if we lost it nothing would be over, just like nothing is done yet. We should not make euphoria out of it. Our focus now will be only on the next game and that is the important thing. ”
On the Croatian play and the atmosphere in SAP Arena:
“The guys started the game with strong defence, not allowing Spain anything. Super aggressive, just like we agreed.
“I am extremely happy, especially with the atmosphere in which we played. Our fans were amazing and with them, it was much easier to play. They were our additional strength today.”
Ivan Martinovic (CRO) - right back
On a 10-goal win against Spain:
“We didn't hope we would win so convincingly. We knew we could win but not like this. We were fighting from the first minute until the last and I am so proud of my teammates. The fans were even better and gave us new energy to celebrate every goal, every save and every foul.”
On the Spanish defence:
“They have world-class goalkeepers and, weirdly, they didn't have any efficiency. It's a miracle. When we saw we could do it, we were even better and just flying on the court.”
On the new Croatian generation:
“We are a family. We have an amazing atmosphere in the team. It seems like we found the right mixture of experienced players and us young. We are going to just build on this.”
On the Player of the Match award:
“Beautiful feeling to win it here, after such a great victory in front of thousands of Croatian fans but to be honest, any player from our team could have won it how good we all were playing.”
On the next game against Austria, his home country:
“It will be a special game for me. The last time Croatia faced Austria I wasn't playing so finally I had the chance. It would be even more special if my brother Marin was on the other side but one day maybe that will happen too.”
AUSTRIA vs ROMANIA
Ales Pajovic (SLO) – head coach, Austria
On beating Romania again after defeating them twice in the Qualifiers:
“We won in the qualification twice, but I told my team that the match would start at zero, and it wouldn't be an easy game.
“What was crucial today was our 6-0 defence; we played it very well. When the defence is good, the goalkeeper is good, and Constantin Möstl was really, really good. I didn't expect that, but it was teamwork.
“We were good in the first half, and we started well in the second half. That was important. I think it's very important to start with two points in the European championship."
Constantin Möstl (AUT) - goalkeeper
On his performance and Player of the Match award:
“It's a dream come true for me. I still can't imagine how good I played today, but I don't want to sound arrogant. It went very well for me. But in the end only thing that matters are our two points.”
On the game:
“In the first half, we didn't score as many goals as we could because their goalkeeper [Ionut Ciprian Iancu] played well. In the second half, we found a way to score more easily and when we got the lead we knew we should fight for it.”
On the next game against Croatia:
“Croatia are a world-class team and we all know that. We can dream, analyse them and do our best, maybe even to a little surprise.
Lukas Hutecek (AUT) - left back
On their game:
“It is a big and important victory for us. We missed a lot of open chances in the first half but we had a great start to the second half and took what we were offered. We helped our goalkeeper a lot with our strong defence and made a great game.”
On the win at the start of the Men's EHF EURO:
“The opening game is always hard especially as we were starting against Romania, a known opponent but we knew they had a goal to beat us. Also, because we knew this is important for keeping the dream of the main round alive despite having two strong opponents in the next games.”
Xavier Pascual (ESP) – head coach, Spain
On receiving two red cards:
“We got two red cards, but this is a team. We must understand that the red card is a part of the game, and we knew that this could happen. We have a very young team, and many players experienced being part of such a big event for the first time.”
On the match:
“We had some easy chances, but we didn't score, which was due to the inexperience of my players. Austria ruthlessly exploited these mistakes, and they could run and score easy goals.”
Ionut Ciprian Iancu (ROU) - goalkeeper
On the reason for Romania's defeat:
“This was an extremely tough game but this is handball. No matter how much you prepare you never know what is going to happen. We had two red cards in the first half and it made a problem for us. We were left with only one right wing and their goalkeeper [Constantin Möstl] had an amazing night.”
On the next task:
“We need to keep our heads high and try to make a recovery, learn from this and prepare for the next match. We know we are playing against Spain, a tough opponent, but you never know what can happen. It's only one game.”
On Austria's advantage:
“Austria had a strong defence and they backed their goalkeeper. Unfortunately, they used it for quick goals and we couldn't do anything to stop them. We knew they would try that as we know them very well.”
On the comeback to the Men's EHF EURO after 28 years:
“It means a lot to be here, just to be a part of it. But when you already made it here, you want to do something and get a good result.”
Demis Cosmin Grigoras (ROU) - right back
On the defeat against Austria:
“We started good in the first half, we anticipated all of Austria's moves. In the second half, we made too many mistakes that allowed them to score easy goals from fast breaks. For us was difficult to make a comeback and we were losing one-on-one.”
On his team:
“We played good first half and the coach was trying to keep the same team, the players that can fight one-on-one with Austria. However, we needed to change the players to allow them to relax because it was a high-tempo game.”
TEXT: EHF / Danijela Vekić
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