Clean record gives confidence for Hypo

In the Main Round Hypo Niederösterreich will start against title holder Dream Team Slagelse in Denmark. Eurohandball.com asks András Németh about the preparations of the Austrian team.

Eurohandball.com: What difference did it make that you resigned from the Hungarian national team?

András Németh: I don’t feel too much change. I dedicate the same energy on Hypo as before, but now I feel better. I do my tasks as before, but luckily I have less to do now.

Eurohandball.com:How did you spend those few weeks without Champions League?

Németh: We had a lot of time to prepare. The three South Korean players have been away three weeks for the Olympic qualification tournament and trainings. Englert was also with the German national team for a week. Nevertheless, the preparations went all right and we played our last test match on Tuesday against a good men’s junior team from Vienna. We always play against them whenever we have no appropriate opponents.

Eurohandball.com: I guess yuo play quite often with them…

Németh: Four or five times so far. But we also play against the neigbouring top teams, such as Krim and Podravka. In addition, we played quite a good match last Sunday in the Austrian league away against Wiener Neustadt. Their only defeat was against us and though we won by 22 goals this time, it was a good preparation game.

Eurohandball.com:What did you see at trainings? What is the current form of the team?

Németh: The team performed well on Tuesday and the girls played in a good mood. We were quick, determined and played nice handball. There were no problems with scoring either. Unfortunately, Kim Cha Youn suffered a back injury and she is not certain to play against Slagelse. He loss would be a big problem for the team especially in defence. The girls get a day off every week and this time it will be Wednesday. They really need it now because in the last 8-10 days they have been working hard on physical aspects.

Eurohandball.com:What do you think about Slagelse?

Németh: They are still a very complete team. It is telling that they have recently won in Viborg and it means that they must be taken seriously. Though they lost in Copenhagen, it doesn’t mean anything.

Eurohandball.com:What are your plans for this group phase?

Németh: We are in a tough group where every moment will have an importance. Slagelse are title holders anyway, Viborg have reinforced their team the best, while Zvenigorod plays with almost the full Russian national team. We want to go on. We performed well in the first group phase and our 100% record can give us good confidence.