Szeged’s heroes ready to write history 

MOL-Pick Szeged caused the biggest upset so far of the VELUX EHF Champions League Quarter-finals when they defeated heavy favourites THW Kiel in their first leg match against the German outfit on Wednesday. 

There were many heroes in the home side – Dean Bombac and Zsolt Balogh being the most obvious – but it was Swedish wing Jonas Källman who became the hero for Szeged’s faithful fans.

"About two weeks before the match against Kiel I did not feel well at training. I had a high temperature and felt pain in my stomach, so I was immediately taken to hospital. I was diagnosed with appendicitis and immediately underwent an appendectomy," Källman told ehfCL.com. 

"I know some poeple think I am a hero to take the court only 12 days after the surgery, but I can assure you I am not. I felt a little pain but that was not enough to keep me out of the game and when Juan Carlos Pastor asked if I was ready to play, I said yes," said Källman, who scored four goals and was a crucial brick in the massive Szeged wall. 

A night to remember 

Källman said the atmosphere against Kiel was one of the best he had ever experienced:

"A big thanks is owed to our fans, who had a fair share in the victory against one of the best teams in the world. Szeged had a huge game but as always, there is room to improve, which we will definitely need to do to eliminate Kiel."

Ferenc Ilyés, Szeged’s Hungarian international left back, agrees with his Swedish teammate: 

"It’s not bad to travel to Kiel with an advantage, though we know the German side remain the favourite to reach Cologne. We need to put heart and soul into our preparation and never lose hope."

Szeged have never reached the semi-finals of the VELUX EHF Champions League and qualified for the quarter-finals this season after more than a decade absent from the top eight. 

The recipe 

"If we manage to play an even better game than at home, we will have a chance of reaching the FINAL4," said Ilyés, who is no stranger to the atmosphere in Kiel, having played for Lemgo between 2009 and 2011. 

Källman says Kiel not only have a world-class team but a world-class bench, which make it even harder to prepare against them. 

"When you face this many great players you will always have to give extra. Szeged can play even better than in the first leg – we can certainly lift our defence as we made quite a few mistakes that Kiel ruthlessly punished us for."

The Swede thinks Szeged’s most important strength will be important in Germany: 

"We are a united team and we always fight together with pride. The sense of team spirit makes us stronger."

Gislason has stood in the way before

The last time Szeged ventured to the top eight, in 2004, the Hungarian runners-up were stopped by another German team: the Alfred Gislason-led Magdeburg. The Szeged team that fell 59:54 short on aggregate contained current team captain Attila Vadkerti and Ilyés.

"We played two great games but lost both of them," recalls Ilyés, whose team suffered hard at the hands of Stefan Kretzschmar. 

"But this is a totally different situation – not only because we have a two-goal advatage this time, but now there is a chance for us to write history."

Kiel take on Szeged on Sunday at 19:30 hrs in Germany.