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MANNHEIM - Comments from Georgia head coach Tite Kalandadze (GEO), goalkeeper Zurab Tsintsadze (GEO) and Sweden head coach Glenn Solberg (NOR) goalkeeper Tobias Thulin (SWE) and Sebastian Karlsson (SWE), and Bosnia and Herzegovina head coach Irfan Smajlagic (CRO), right back Marko Panic (BIH), Netherlands head coach Staffan Olsson (SWE), left wing Rutger ten Velder (NED), goalkeeper Bart Ravensbergen (NED) and centre back Luc Steins after the Netherlands beat Bosnia and Herzegovina 36:20 and Sweden beat Georgia 42:26 at the SAP Arena on Saturday.
GEORGIA VS SWEDEN
Tite Kalandadze (GEO) - head coach
On the loss against Sweden:
“Sweden did an outstanding job. They played like professionals, while my team behaved somewhat like children. We acknowledge that Georgia is a very young team, and we extend our congratulations to Sweden for advancing to the main round. I hope to see the Swedish team in the final.”
Zurab Tsintsadze (GEO) - goalkeeper
On the next game against Bosnia and Herzegovina:
“From these two games, we are taking new experiences, which is very important. Now, we will have some rest and prepare for Bosnia and Herzegovina. It would be nice to end our first European championship with a win. We will fight for it to the end.”
On the support he received from the stands:
“I have never played in front of so many people. It was an unbelievable feeling, I enjoyed it a lot. To have that support while playing against the best players in the world. The result and defeat are not important, this is our first time at the European Championship and we need to enjoy it.”
On the importance of EHF EURO for Georgian handball:
“Games like this are important for Georgian handball because we have a young team. We want to develop and to learn.”
Glenn Solberg (NOR) - head coach, Sweden
On the win against Georgia:
“We are pleased to have achieved our first goal by winning the match. We aimed to give ample playing time to many players on the court. It was crucial for us to field as many players as possible, building confidence for the upcoming games. I am elated; I believe the first half was excellent. We maintained focus, concentration, and a strong defence, and our counter-attacks were fantastic. Winning naturally brings great happiness, and now we will assess and plan for the next games.”
Tobias Thulin (SWE) - goalkeeper
On having two wins at the start of the Men's EHF EURO 2024:
“It is always good to start with two wins. We are feeling good in the team and now two good performances. That is important before the important game against the Netherlands.”
On securing the main round berth:
“We are satisfied we have secured a place in the main round but we will try to play on the same high level and beat the Netherlands to have a better start.”
On all players rotating throughout the game against Georgia:
“It shows how wide our squad is and that we have players that can go in and perform on the top level no matter the situation.”
Sebastian Karlsson (SWE) - right wing
On the game against Georgia:
“The game against Georgia was a different kind of game for us, especially compared to one against Bosnia. Bosnia tried to slow things down with long attacks, against Georgia we could play our game, with counterattacks and get some speed up. It was good to run a little bit.”
On the Player of the Match award:
“To be honest, I was not expecting the award. I thought he [Zurab Tsintsadze] would win it. He was really a fan favourite as we heard them cheering and to be honest, he deserved it. For me, at the end of the day, it's a team's win that matters.”
On the next game against the Netherlands:
“We want to win, first and foremost. Also, we want to play better and to evolve. If we focus on ourselves and do everything to play we have a very good chance of going to the main round with all three wins."
BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA VS NETHERLANDS
Irfan Smajlagic (CRO) - head coach, Bosnia and Herzegovina
On the loss against the Netherlands:
“The Netherlands' team outperformed us in all aspects, and we lacked energy. Without sufficient energy, winning against anyone becomes challenging. They exhibited a strong defence, smooth transitions, and ultimately deserved the victory tonight.”
Marko Panic (BIH) - right back
On their fans:
“I would like to thank to our fans for being there for us. For me, this is a disgrace. There were 13,000 people and many of them were our fans and I want to apologise to them for our play and how the game ended.”
On the reason for the defeat:
“I don't know to reason for our bad play. The Netherlands played simple handball, Luc Steins made everything possible for them and even though we knew that, we couldn't stop it. We have a lot of work in front of us. We need to put our attack in focus and try to make it better. ”
On the next game against Georgia:
“I was afraid of defeat like this. The schedule doesn't work in our favour. We had a good moment against Sweden, today nothing was working and now we have to get up and try to beat Georgia for the first win. The major competitions always have this tight schedule and we don't have time now to fight, to be sad, or make excuses. We need to find a way to win.”
Staffan Olsson (SWE) - head coach, Netherlands
On the win against Bosnia and Herzegovina:
“I agree that the cornerstone of our victory was our defence, and I am extremely proud of my team. I have great respect for the Bosnia and Herzegovina team. They delivered an outstanding 45 minutes against Sweden. Therefore, I am genuinely proud and happy with our performance.”
Rutger ten Velde (NED) - left wing
On the win against Bosnia and Herzegovina:
“A great match for us. Our defence was strong, guys in the middle were working hard and they it easy for us to run and score with ease. When you have a defence like that it's easy to play well and have good goalkeeper.”
On the Player of the Match award:
“Dani [Baijens] and me were standing next to each other after the end of the game, he said I will get it, I said he will get it. It is nice but the most important thing is we won and we are one step in the main round now.”
On the Dutch fans:
“We have great fans. They were also cheering the whole game, have cool choreographies and I am really proud of them, and to see your family at the stands also.”
On the opportunity to rest the main players:
“For us, it is very important that we had two games like this where we can rest some of the main players. We saw in the previous tournaments that we lost some strength when we made it to the main round and now we can hope to enter it with more rest, but the most important thing is to give our best against Sweden. That is important.”
Bart Ravensbergen (NED) - goalkeeper
On his 100th game for the national team:
“I am very proud of my 100th cap for the national team. To win big against Bosnia and Herzegovina made it even better.”
On the win against Bosnia and Herzegovina:
“We were concentrated from the beginning and we played our game until the end. We had our tempo and it helped us a lot to make easy goals. I didn't expect it to be so clear for us.”
Luc Steins (NED) - centre back
On the biggest Dutch win in EHF EURO history:
“We tried to put a lot of tempo in the game, to play it our way. Bosnia had a lot of problems with it. It is nice to hear this is our biggest victory at the European championship history and I hope we will continue like this.”
On the game against Sweden:
“Sweden is a strong team. They are big favourites in the game against us. But we have a good feeling, we have great confidence now after these two games. We will try to make their life difficult and who knows, maybe we can surprise them.”
TEXT: EHF / Danijela Vekić
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