Superb performance needed

The delegation of Győri Audi ETO KC flew to FYR Macedonia on Thursday morning. The team will play their first CL game of the season on Friday in Skopje. Csaba Konkoly talked to Eurohandball.com before the travel.

Eurohandball.com: What changes happened in the squad during the summer?

Csaba Konkoly: We brought two home-grown players back to the team, Szabina Mayer and Anita Herr.

Gabi Rotis, signed before the season, had problems with her shoulder and she had to undergo operation. Currently she is back in training and she seems to be in 70% condition now. We expect her to make her debut soon in the domestic league and she is looking forward to it too. We know that she is a player with significant international experience, but she did not play recently.

We gave Orsolya Szegedi on loan to Fehérép, but then Patrícia Szölösi was injured. It means that we only have Orsolya Vérten in the left wing position now. Szölösi will start trainings next week and the doctors expect her to return relatively soon.

Eurohandball.com: Who will form the team this season?

Konkoly: The skeleton of the team has been unchanged. We’ve been preparing for the CL with a lot of dedication after our recent defeat in the Hungarian league. We showed some improvement at our last game too. We can build on it before the Skopje game. We will try to play our own game there, though in that environment no team can expect an easy game.

Eurohandball.com: What do you think explains the defeat against Debrecen in the championship? Debrecen has become so strong or ETO weaker?

Konkoly: I know it sounds a bit strange with only one year of head coach experience behind me, but I can say the following: if we ask the best coaches in the world whether they prepared for a new season with their players being at three different places, few of them would reply yes.

One part of the team was playing in Beijing, another part at the Junior World Championship, the third part stayed here. I had to build a competitive team out of these three groups and I didn’t even talk about the World Cup in Denmark.

This preparation could not pay off against such a good team as Debrecen that changed completely for the new season and play with huge motivation. Only Pálinger and Tomori played on their usual level.

Eurohandball.com: With all this in mind, what chances do you have for the CL start?

Konkoly: We will have a difficult task with the title holder Zvezda in our group. Last year they won the trophy deservedly. Ikast and Skopje are also strong sides. We will need superb performance for the first two places – similarly to last season.

This is our plan for Macedonia too. The only problem is that we are not aware of their strength and we don’t know their new team.