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MANNHEIM - Comments from Romania head coach Xavi Pascual (ESP), line players Calin Dedu (ROU) and Robert Nagy (ROU), and Spain head coach Jordi Ribera (ESP), left wing Daniel Fernandez (ESP) and left back Joan Cañellas (ESP); Croatia head coach Goran Perkovac (CRO), right wing Filip Glavaš (CRO) and line player Veron Nacinovic (CRO), and Austria head coach Ales Pajovic (SLO) and left back Nikola Bylik (AUT) after Spain beat Romania 36:24 and Croatia and Austria draw 28:28 in preliminary round group B at the SAP Arena on Sunday.
CROATIA vs AUSTRIA
Goran Perkovac (CRO) - head coach, Croatia
On the draw with Austria:
“It was a tough game, though the quality may not have been at its best, both teams put up a strong fight. Unfortunately, we committed too many easy mistakes and missed numerous free chances, including those in front of the goalkeeper. Towards the end of the game, we allowed them to get back into the match with a plus-three advantage. Two or three silly mistakes on our part proved costly."
On Ivan Martinovic's injury:
“While the result is not the primary concern, the biggest issue for us is the injury of Ivan Martinovic, and that's disheartening. Finding a new player who can match Ivan's capabilities will be extremely challenging, almost impossible. However, we must persevere and work with other young players in this position.”
Filip Glavaš (CRO) - right wing
On the tough match against Austria:
“We knew the match was going to be a tough one. Against Spain we played an almost perfect match, today was completely different. However, we knew it would not be as easy but we also knew we must stay focused. Maybe a better defence, to save more or better-played attack could have brought us two points we wished for but nothing was going our way.”
On the Croatian team:
“We have a good team, we all know that and whoever is on the court is giving his maximum. We know what awaits us and we will get up and win against Romania.”
On the next game against Romania:
“Romania have two defeats in a row and despite our group now being a little bit more complicated, everything is still in our hands.”
Veron Nacinovic (CRO) - line player
On the game against Austria:
“We had a good start to the game but we didn't use the lead we made. Austria was fighting hard, not letting go. We didn't have a solution for their game. Near the end, we were close to winning, unfortunately, we didn't defend ourselves as we needed to. I have a feeling that we wanted to end the game way too soon and it backfired.”
On the feelings after the game:
“It is hard to say a lot of things after a game like this. We are still fresh from the game and I need to watch it one more time to see where we made mistakes and what we need to improve. Romania have a great coach and I am aware we have a pressure know to be the best again in that match.”
Ales Pajovic (SLO) - head coach, Austria
On Ivan Martinovic's injury:
“I hope that Ivan will be okay, and it's not as bad as it seems.
On the match against Croatia:
“Regarding the game, I am genuinely thrilled because playing against Croatia in this manner was truly amazing from our side. I anticipated challenges in the attack, especially after Croatia's formidable 6:0 lead. However, I believe we secured this point through our solid defence today. Our players performed exceptionally well in the 6:0 defence, fighting until the end. The last 15 minutes were intense and difficult to watch, with us consistently trailing by two or three goals. Despite the setbacks, we always managed to come back. I must congratulate my team, they displayed character and maintained the belief that they could win the game. In the end, we earned this crucial point.
On the match against Spain:
“What matters most is that my team believes we can face Spain and potentially emerge victorious against them.”
Nikola Bilyk (AUT) - left back
On the draw with Croatia:
“It was amazing. I am so proud of this team. What we did today was another team. So far, we managed to win against a lot of teams but we never managed to do so good against such a top team which we did today.”
On the crucial game against Spain:
“We have another tough match in front of us and we need to perform on the same level again if we want to secure our dream, the main round.”
On the moment when Croatia had a three-goal lead near the end:
“To be honest, throughout the whole time, I was thinking we can get back. I know what kind of mentality we have and how strong our spirit is. Every player was focused as we knew we wanted to take points from Croatia.”
On the Player of the Match award and the atmosphere in SAP Arena:
“In my opinion, the Player of the Match is our whole team, we all delivered today. Everybody would deserve it. It is great to compete against a team where you have almost the whole Arena against you. We were prepared for it and the whole team enjoyed but also thanks to a small number of Austrian fans who were cheering for us.”
ROMANIA vs SPAIN
Xavi Pascual (ESP) - head coach (ROU)
About the Spanish team and Jordi Ribera:
“Jordi knows that I want them to win every time, but not today, during these two hours, but after this I am a supporter of Spain and especially of him because he's an amazing person, an amazing coach. And for me he is. A guy very, very important in my life.
On the loss:
“I think I'm very proud of my team. So proud. When we played this first half in the first 20 minutes, I think that we played at the maximum level we could in this moment and when we were in defence, we created some difficulties. In the second half, in the attack, it was very difficult for us, you know. We tried after that, to play with seven players, but it's OK. I think that they deserved to win. They are better than us, but to be proud of my players is something that is very, very important for me as a coach.
On the next game against Croatia:
“I hope that next game against Croatia, we can learn a lot also because we have players that will play in front of a lot of people and have never played these kinds of games, and this we need to experience. I hope that in the next two men's championships in Europe, or the World Championship, Romania can come fast and not wait 28 years.”
Calin Dedu (ROU) - line player
On the first half against Spain:
“We knew from the beginning playing against Spain will not be easy. We saw that the game plan we practised was working and we saw we could take advantage of it. We found a solution for Spain, even trying to switch it when it stopped, especially in defence. We were focusing on their individual moves.”
On the defeat by Spain:
“Spain were pushing a lot, they have amazing players with experience of playing big tournaments like this, while for us is the first one in 28 years. However, that is not an excuse. We need to push through and keep working, to hopefully improve ourselves.”
On the last game against Croatia:
“We can dream of a good result against Croatia. We will try to play as we did against Spain at the start or even harder. We will follow what the coach is telling us and hopefully end with a win.”
Robert Nagy (ROU) - line player
On the game against Spain:
“We were playing good for 40 minutes I would say, then we started to fall. I don't know why it happened. We need to have more concentration because, with it, we could have stayed in the game more. But Spain are the better team and we need to learn from this game.”
On the next game against Croatia:
“Against Croatia, we need to enjoy the game and try to improve ourselves. The result itself is not the most important thing.”
Jordi Ribera (ESP) - head coach
On the win:
“I am happy about our first victory. After the initial match, my team underwent a complete transformation. Everything became challenging again after the Croatia match where we lost by ten goals, but we managed to bounce back. Particularly in the first minute, I believe the first half was very difficult for us, but Romania excels in attack. The match was only down five goals in the first half, especially due to Romania's excellent attack. However, I think Spain is very good in defence, and our goalkeeper had more contact than in the last match, which is an improvement.
About the second half:
“In the second half, it was more calm and very good. Especially changing the players worked well in the attack. Good luck to Romania in their next match, especially to Pasci, my friend.”
Daniel Fernandez (ESP) - left wing
On the win against Romania:
“It was very important for us to win against Romania, score like this and get a good feeling. Our next game against Austria is capital for us, we need to win and this win will help the team. We will be more relaxed and hopefully, we will be totally relaxed on the last day in Mannheim.”
On Romanian play:
“We expected the Romanian play they showed in the first half. We know they are a strong team even though they lost against Austria. We had to be focused through the whole game.”
Joan Cañellas (ESP) - left back
On the feeling after defeat against Croatia:
“No one expected the game against Croatia to unfold like that. We knew it was going to be hard but how the game went it was tough. We were lucky to be able to play today better and to win. Feelings are different now. Even though the game against Romania was not perfect when you go down so deep, it's not easy to get up and we did it.”
On Romania's game:
“Romania know how we play very well because they have a Spanish coach. It was tough in the beginning but we were good in defence with Gonzalo Perez De Vargas having a good day, at his normal performance. That is what we are used to and what we expect from our team - good defence and then we can run.”
On his 49th game in the national team:
“This is my seventh EHF EURO, I just missed the one in 2010. It's nice to hear this and it means I have done a good job for many years. And I hope more will come.”
TEXT: EHF / Danijela Vekić
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