ZRK Knjaz Milos will start the Champions League qualifiers this weekend. The new coach, Slobodan Jedoksic, sends a message.
Serbian Champions face immense task
The Serbian women’s champions, ZRK Knjaz Milos from Arandjelovac, start the season with a new coach. The team of Slobodan Jedoksic will try to make it as far as possible in the CL where they need to get through two qualification groups to qualify for the group stage.
After their former coach, Sasa Boskovic, went to a Romanian club, HBC Deva, Knjaz Milos hired Slobodan Jedoksic. He will not have an easy job this season, especially in European competitions. The best result of the clubs so far was reaching the CL group stage in 2005/2006.
Difficult road to the CL
The best Serbian club have a difficult task ahead if they want to take part in the CL again. The team will start from the Qualification Tournament 1 this weekend.
Knjaz Milos is in Group B with Swedish Savehof, Turkish Mili Pjango and Dutch Van der Vort Quintus. The winner of the group will play in Qualification tournament 2, Group B with Aalborg, Zaporozhye and Patras.
If they finish second, they will play in Qualification tournament 2 in group 4 with Lada Togliatti, Sagunto and Lublin.
The winners of the Qualification Tournament 2 will qualify for the CL group stage. The Serbian champions would have a very difficult road to get to the Champions League.
Financial concerns
However, the young and talented team of Arandjelovac have financial problems at the moment. The English language website of ZRK Knjaz Milos (www.zrk-knjazmilos.org.yu) transmits a clear message from coach Slobodan Jedoksic: “At the moment we need financial support and players. We hope that the company "Knjaz Milos" and the local authorities will show understanding and help us overcome these problems, which are not of long lasting character.“
For the good of the team and Serbian women’s handball, hopefully these financial problems will soon be solved.
TEXT:
Ivan Ambros