EHF Players of June go to flying winger Manaskov and a goal machine Kudlacz-Gloc

Following the end of the club season in May, attention turned to national team competitions and dramatic qualification matches for the Men’s World Championship 2017 and Women’s EHF EURO 2016.

A panel consisting of EHF correspondents across Europe voted for the players of month for June assessing players’ performances in the qualifications matches and for the awards go to players representing FYR Macedonia, Dejan Manaskov, and Poland, Karolina Kudlacz-Gloc, for the first time.

Manaskov: “This is a big recognition for me”

The Macedonian flying winger – Dejan Manaskov was the key player as FYR Macedonia qualified for another major event – the World Championship 2017 in France.

Under the lead of the new head coach Lino Cervar, FYR Macedonia faced Czech Republic and experienced difficulties on the way to the group phase of the World Championship.

They were defeated 28:22 in the away game and this result cased huge psychological pressure on Macedonian side before the return match in Skopje. However, at home the Macedonians opened the match in convincing style and Lino Cervar had an amazing joker in his squad at the left wing position.

Dejan Manaskov produced an amazing performance scoring impressive 11 goals, leading FYR Macedonia to a 34:27 victory. With this victory they booked a one-goal aggregate win and a spot in the group phase of the World Championship.

“I have to admit that this is a big recognition for me because it comes from the EHF. I hope that in future more awards will follow, not just for me but also for the other Macedonian players,” says Dejan Manaskov

“We knew that it wouldn’t be easy, but taking in consideration our performance in the away match I have to say that we obviously underestimated our opponent. We played pretty poorly in the first leg and the six-goal defeat was a wakeup call for the return match in Skopje, where we managed to take over the initiative and win in front of or supporters.

This victory was very important because our national team continued the participation in major events and I’m happy that once more we will participate at the World Championship,” concluded Manaskov

This player of the month award is even bigger for the Macedonian left wing who managed to win ahead of some of the biggest backcourt profiles in Europe such as Dean Bombac, Sergei Rutenka, Petar Nenadic and Mate Lekai.

Kudlacz-Gloc: “Strong motivation to work for more”

Meanwhile, the Polish women national team ended qualification for EHF EURO 2016 with two victories against Finland 33:11 and Slovakia 28:25.

This qualification cycle was the last one for Kim Rasmussen, who after six successful years at the helm of the Polish National teams leaves the head coach position.

His farewell matches ended in victory thanks to the biggest weapon in the Polish national team Karolina Kudlacz-Gloc. The Polish left back and captain of the national team once more played an important role in both matches had the turned out to be an enigma for opponents’ keepers, scoring 17 goals in the two matches.

“I am very happy with the award, for me it’s a confirmation of the fact that what I do in every single training session is correct and appreciated.  I train a lot, I give all I have every day and lead a lifestyle which is required by professional sport for professional athletes. This award is a kind of compensation and a strong motivation to work for more,” says Karolina Kudlacz-Gloc.

Poland ended on the second position in the Group 5, which placed them in Group B along with Netherlands, France and Germany at EHF EURO 2016.

“Last season was successful both for me and for the national team of Poland. We qualified for EHF EURO 2016, once again we have reached the top four in the World Championship and we were unlucky not to qualify for the Olympics.

“Now together with new head coach Leszek Krowicki we will have new challenges. I know Leszek more as a person, less as a coach but I find the decision of assigning him as a coach of the Polish national team reasonable and logical.

“However, the task won’t be easy as Kim Rasmussen was a unique figure, who had great authority and gained our deep respect. The bar is set high,” concluded Kudlacz-Gloc

The Women’s EHF EURO 2016 qualifiers were successful for Balkan countries and that is reflected with three Balkan representatives Milena Raicevic, Katarina Krpez and Neli Irman nominated for the player of the month award alongside top scorer of the Austrian national team Katrin Engel.