Slovakia defeated by Hungary and will be without Csaba Szücs

EHF EURO participant Slovakia lost their second test match against Hungary in two weeks: After a 25:29 defeat on home ground at the "Christmas Cup", the Slovaks were defeated even more clearly, 24:33 (14:17) in Veszprém, Hungary.

After a good start from the guests, Hungary took control, but with their fighting spirit the Slovaks were still in touch until the half-time score of 20:23. Then Hungary punished every mistake of their opponent and increased the final margin to nine goals.

Slovak coach Zoltán Heister was satisfied with the first half, but said: "We lost too many balls in attack, and Hungary profited with counter-attack goals. At the EHF EURO in Serbia we have to avoid those mistakes." Top scorers for Slovakia were Rabek (8 goals) and Martin Stranovsky with five goals.

But this defeat is not the biggest problem facing Heister: key player Csaba Szücs will not be in the EHF EURO squad due to an adductor injury. The back court ace, who plays for German side Hannover-Burgdorf, will miss his second consecutive major tournament, after the World Championship 2011 in Sweden, due to injury.

"It’s a really sad message for us," coach Heister said. The injury occurred in the victorious friendly match in France in November – but the healing process is taking longer than expected for Szücs, who already missed the Christmas Cup on home soil, where the Slovaks had beaten Czech Republic and Poland and lost against Hungary.

The missing Szücs is not the only injury in the Slovak team: Young goalkeeper Teodor Paul will miss the trip to Serbia due to surgery – he will be replaced by "goalie senior" Miloš Putera. Right winger Tomáš Urban and pivot Andrej Petro are also injured, but will be able to compete at the EHF EURO.

The last part of their preparation for Serbia will take the Slovak team to Osijek, Croatia, this weekend, where they will face the host, plus Sweden and Iran.

Heister: "We have our team completed finally and these matches against strong teams are a great opportunity for the players to get used to each other again and improve our playing skills."

The Slovak squad for the final steps of the preparation for the EHF EURO 2012:

Goalkeepers: Richard Štochl (Montpellier Agglomération HB/FRA), Miloš Putera (TV 05/07 Hüttenberg/GER), Ladislav Kovačin (MŠK Považská Bystrica)

Field players: Andrej Petro (DHC Rheinland Dormagen/GER), Martin Mazák (FTC-PLER Budapešť/HUN), Michal Kopčo (Tatran Prešov), Peter Dudáš (HC SPORTA Hlohovec),

Martin Straňovský (Reale Ademar León/ESP), Radoslav Antl (Tatran Prešov), Anton Kasagranda (HC SPORTA Hlohovec), Tomáš Urban (HC winLand Michalovce), Daniel Valo (HSG Wetzlar/GER), Peter Kukučka (Kadetten Schaffhausen Handball/SUI), Ladislav Tarhai ml. (BSV Bern Muri/SUI), Péter Szabó (Kecskeméti KSE/HUN), Oliver Rábek, Marek Mikéci (obaja HC Štart Nové Zámky), Patrik Hruščák (1. MHK Košice), Ľubomír Ďuriš (HC SPORTA Hlohovec)

Further information

Download the Official EHF EURO 2012 Playing Schedule (pdf)

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