The Slovaks start the domestic championship: To start against the big favorite! – Športky.sk

KOŠICE / BRATISLAVA – With the ambition to achieve the historically first victory at the European Championship in their fourth participation and to fight for promotion from the basic group, the Slovak handball players will enter the fights at the domestic European Championships. They will start them on Thursday at 8.30 pm in the Steel Arena in Košice with a duel with the highly favored Norway.

The Slovaks will not have an easy task, in addition to the defenders of bronze metal and silver medalists from the 2017 World Championships and 2019 Norwegians, they will meet in the F-group with unpredictable Lithuania (January 15 at 6 pm) and after the restoration of fame to longing Russia (January 17 at 6 pm). It is through Lithuania and Russia that the road to the points and progress to the main stage could lead. “These are rivals we can fight for victory,” Slovak helmsman Peter Kukučka stated right after the draw.

At a big event after ten years

The Slovak representatives will present themselves at the top event after ten years, this time their participation was ensured by the role of the organizer of the championship together with Hungary. They last presented at the 2012 European Championships in Serbia, where they took the last 16th place, but in a duel with the home team, they won their first point from the European Championships after the 21:21 draw. In previous participations among the European elite in 2006 and 2008, the Slovaks lost all duels and ended up on the tail of the standings. So far, they have a 0-1-8 balance at the European Championships with a score of 240: 293.

“There are definitely three difficult duels ahead of us and I want us to pass the maximum in each one. We want to present ourselves with a good game, so that the spectators are satisfied and appreciate our combativeness. that’s it, ” said coach Kukučka, who completed the championship ten years ago as a player.

His charges did not have to play a qualifier, they played Euro Cup duels instead. However, they did not get a point in the six meetings in the strong competition of Hungary, Croatia and Spain, and they have been waiting for a long time to win the international confrontation.

The Slovaks will enter the tournament without a match check, as after a positive test of one player they had to cancel both last week’s preparatory duels with Austria in Vienna and Bratislava. The coronavirus hit the expedition even after moving to Košice on Sunday, one member of the implementation team reportedly had a positive result.

According to Sportnet, this should be an assistant coach, Radoslav Antl. However, according to Kukuček, all players are in good health: “None of them have any problems and I hope it stays that way until the first match with Norway. We have nothing to lose in it, as the opponent is a clear favorite.”

No preparatory match

The day off will be followed on Saturday by a duel with Lithuania, in which the Slovaks failed in the World Cup 2021 and which is returning to the European Championships after 24 years. On Monday, Russia, a traditional opponent from past qualifications, is waiting for the home team – they met together in the fight for the 2018 and 2020 European Championships and the 2019 World Cup. “Russia is a strong opponent, but we managed to play close matches with him in previous qualifiers,” said of the last opponent in the Kukučka group.

He is sorry that the team could not test their current strength in a fierce match: “It’s always different in him than in training, but I hope it won’t be so noticeable. We can’t influence it and several teams that will start at the championship have not played a single match in preparation. Overall, this championship and preparation for it is special. , something pops up every day and we have to be very flexible. “

Ten years ago, the winger Tomáš Urban from the Bundesliga Minden also started at the European Championships. Despite the strength of his opponents, he also has ambitions not to finish in the championship after the first three matches: “We have to have high goals, so we want to move out of the group. On the other hand, we should stay grounded because we can say we are an outsider of this group. even for our viewers. “

The highlight of his career is the domestic European Championships for 32-year-old Patrik Hruščák, a member of HK Košice, who has already worked in several foreign clubs: “We are looking forward to it, we are at home, we want to make the most of it and give our best. We have nothing to lose. We want to rely on solid defenses and quick counterattacks. It is a pity that only a quarter of our capacity can come in terms of “At the Steel Arena, the atmosphere would drive us forward, but we can’t do anything about it. We want to play a good match against the Norwegians, but two more duels against Lithuania and Russia will probably be more important to us.”

“It is good that we are playing with them for the first time. In it we will get rid of tremors and then we will focus on the matches that are most important to us. The Norwegians are world leaders, they are able to push for 60 minutes. we followed the tactics set by the coach, ” said Patrik Hruščák, a member of the Slovak team’s clutch council.

Due to positive tests for the coronavirus, both teams lost several preparatory matches, while the Slovaks are worse off in this respect. They did not play a single duel, they canceled the planned two matches with Austria. In preparation for the European Championships, the Norwegians met with Denmark and lost to it 25:35. They also lost to the same opponent in the quarterfinals of the Olympics (25:31).

“They have their quality, but the first match can be treacherous. They have 2-3 exceptionally good players in each position. We have studied their strengths and we know that their greatest strength is on the sides. I don’t want us to go into the match with fear. Opponent is a clear favorite, we have to play from the beginning and leave everything there, ” noted coach SR Kukučka. He has 19 players at his disposal (for coronavirus and isolation, Tomáš Rečičár, Igor Čupryna and Lukáš Urban were eliminated during the preparation) and the line-up is almost clear: “However, we will not determine the sixteen Norwegian players until the morning of the match day.”

You can’t focus on just one player

Experienced winger Tomáš Urban knows several supports of the Norwegian team from the German league, but he also realizes that the strength of the first Slovak opponent lies in the entire Norwegian team. “They have star Sander Sagosen, as well as Harald Reinkind and Kent Robin Tonnesen. They are world-class players. You can’t focus on just one player, but these are one class higher. It will be up to us to focus on our performance. “Everything has to go well for us to get a good result. We have to play fast and punish the opponent for every missed chance.” stated T. Urban. Sagosen was the top scorer of the previous European Championships in 2020.

Nomination of Slovak handball players for the European Championship 2022:

Goalkeepers: Teodor Paul (USAM Nimes Gard / Fr.), Marián Žernovič (FTC Budapest / Hungary), Michal Martin Konečný (BM Ángel Ximénez Puente Genil / Šp.)

Beer: Dominik Kalafut (HSG Nordhorn-Lingen / Germany), Martin Slaninka (HSC Suhr Aarau / CHE), Simon Macháč (SBS-Eger / Hungary)

Wings: Tomáš Urban (TSV GWD Minden / Nem.), Marek Kováčech (Handball Sportunion Leoben / Rak.), Martin Briatka (MŠK Považská Bystrica), Lukáš Péchy (HC Sporta Hlohovec)

Couplings: Jakub Prokop, Tomáš Smetánka (both Viveros Herol BM Nava / Šp.), Martin Potisk (ThSV Eisenach / Nem.), Marek Hniďák (HC Burgenland / Nem.), Ľubomír Ďuriš (HE-DO B.Braun Gyöngyös / Maď.) , Jakub Mikita (FTC Budapest / Hungary), Marek Korbel (Talent Pilsen / Czech Republic), Oliver Rabek (Tatran Presov), Patrik Hruscak (HK Kosice)

F-group matches program in Košice:

Thursday, January 13:

6 pm Russia – Lithuania
8.30 pm Norway – SLOVAKIA

Saturday, January 15:

6 pm SLOVAKIA – Lithuania
8.30 pm Norway – Russia

Monday, January 17:

6 pm SLOVAKIA – Russia
8.30 pm Lithuania – Norway

• The author: © List
• Source: TASR