Zubai & Co. expecting no easy games

It was the biggest day of his career, when he raised the EHF Cup trophy in May 2014, now MOL-Pick Szeged’s long-term team captain Attila Vadkerti has stepped down, but remains on the Szeged ‘ship’ as the director of the youth academy and deciding to finish his career at FKSE Algyö. In the first post-Vadkerti season of the Hungarian runners-ups, Szabolcs Zubai will take on the role as the new captain.

Vadkerti is the only departure in the squad of Spanish born coach Juan Carlos Pastor, who strengthen the team with two experienced internationals: Brazilian Thiago Santos and Serbian Marko Curuvija.

The season after winning the EHF Cup Finals in Berlin was - from an international point of view - successful: Szeged eliminated Rhein Neckar Löwen in the Last 16 of the VELUX EHF Champions League and were close to another sensation against Kiel in the quarter-finals.

Now they will compete with Löwen again in Group B of the new season, aside from that they face top contenders such as defending champions Barcelona, Kielce or Vardar and in addition to Kolding and Montpellier.

But despite this tough group the objectives are set high for all competitions: “We are aware of the fact that Veszprem, our domestic rival, has a great team and are favourites in the national competitions, but we want to fight to win at least one title in Hungary,” says club director Nandor Szögi.

On the international stage, he expects every match to be like a final: “In the VELUX EHF Champions League our philosophy is to go step by step, from match to match. The goal is of course, to qualify for the Last 16, but we will need to achieve a good position to get a manageable opponent in the next phase. But this year, each match, even in the Group Phase, will be like a final for everyone.”

New team captain Szabolcs Zubai hopes to cause some upsets to the favourites: “With the new format of the (VELUX EHF) Champions League it will be more difficult to surprise a team, but we are going to up our level.”

Zubai is “happy” to be in a group like this, facing Barcelona & Co. for him he would like “to continue on the same path (as in previous seasons) and to perform even better. But for sure it will be very difficult to qualify from this group, however, the goal is simple: to proceed.”

Szeged’s team captain is delighted to face the defending champions: “It is always a pleasure to play against Barcelona, but there are no easy games in our group this year.”

Club director Nandor Szögi is not sure what to predict for the group phase: “The favourites are FC Barcelona Lassa. Most of our opponents have been participating in the VELUX EHF Champions League for a long time, so it is impossible to predict the final ranking after the Group Phase. Anything can happen.”

For Szögi the participation in the VELUX EHF Champions League has huge importance for MOL-Pick Szeged: “We are going to have a minimum of 14 matches against the best teams, which is a big challenge for us. We are really proud of being in this top competition and our goal is to stay there for a long time.”  

MOL-Pick Szeged (HUN)

Qualification for the 2015/2016 VELUX EHF Champions League season: Hungarian runners-up
Newcomers:  Thiagus Petrus Goncalves Dos Santos (Naturhouse La Rioja), Marko Curuvija (König-Trade Balmazujvaros)
Left the club: Attila Vadkerti (FKSE Algyö and operational director of the MOL-Pick Szeged youth academy)
Coach: Juan Carlos Pastor (since 2013)
Opponents in the group phase: Barcelona, Kielce, Vardar, Kolding, Löwen, Montpellier, Kristianstad in Group B

VELUX EHF Champions League records:

Participations (including 2015/16 season): 14
Quarter-final (3): 1996/97, 2003/04, 2014/15
Last 16 (5): 2004/05, 2005/06, 2006/07, 2010/11, 2012/13
Main Round (1): 2007/08
Group Phase (3): 2008/09, 2009/10, 2011/12
Qualification (1): 2013/14

Other EC records:

EHF Cup
Winner: 2014
Quarter-final: 2000/01
Last 16: 1994/95, 1999/00

EHF Cup Winners’ Cup
Semi-final: 1993/94
Quarter-final: 2002/03, 2008/09

Hungarian champions: 1996, 2007, runners-up: 1985, 1994, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013
Hungarian cup winners: 1977, 1982, 1983, 1993, 2006, 2008