Post-match flash quotes: main round group I, 20 January
COLOGNE - Comments from Germany head coach Alfred Gislason (ISL), line player Johannes Golla (GER) and left back Julian Köster (GER), ad Austria head coach Ales Pajovic (SLO), goalkeeper Constantin Möstl (AUT) and centre back Markus Mahr (AUT); Hungary head coach Chema Rodriguez (ESP), left back Patrik Ligetvári (HUN) and Máté Lékai (HUN), Croatia head coach Goran Perkovac (CRO), line player Veron Nacinovic (CRO) and right back Mateo Maraš (CRO); France head coach Guillaume Gille (FRA) and goalkeeper Samir Bellahcene (FRA) and right back Melvyn Richardson (FRA), and Iceland head coach Snorri Stein Guðjónsson (ISL) and centre backs Janus Smarason (ISL) and Gisli Kristjansson (ISL) after France beat Iceland 39:32, Hungary beat Croatia 29:26 and Germany drew 22:22 with Austria in main round group I at the LANXESS arena on Saturday.
GERMANY vs AUSTRIA
Alfred Gislason (ISL) – head coach, Germany
On the result:
“If you look at the game, we can be really happy with this one point. At the end, we had a chance to win but it would have been unfair.
“Their defence was great and their goalkeeper [Constantin Möstl] was fantastic, of course. I am also happy with our defence and goalkeeping. But in the offence we missed 23 shots, most of them even clear and that’s the reason why we had these huge problems.
“When we talk about the last two weeks, we don’t play enough through the corner places and now they got a lot of chances to score but they were not really good. But we had also many times clear throws against the goalkeeper but he was fantastic and we were, well, not good enough.”
On their chances of the semi-finals:
“In the end, I am not sure but this point we got could be important because the situation now is like before the game. We have to win the next two games anyway. So, I hope that we can concentrate better and prepare for next game.”
Johannes Golla (GER) – line player
On the game:
"It's really tough, the result is of course not what we expected. But in the meantime, Austria deserve the point, they played really good. What I'm quite sad about is that we knew how they were playing, they played exactly as we thought and still, nothing worked."
On missing so many shots:
"It was an off-night. Our goalkeeper [Andreas Wolff] made some amazing saves but we missed too many open shots to hope for the win. It's hard to take right now."
Julian Köster (GER) - left back
On the game:
"One point is clearly not what we came for, we didn't play well, our offence was not good. On the other hand, Austria played with full confidence, and it grew even more as time went on. I think that without the fans, we probably would not have taken a point. But that's how it is and we have to look ahead now.'
On the difficulties his team experienced:
"I don't know, it's hard to tell. We knew about them having just a few rotations, about them playing with seven players but they still managed to make it work. It's frustrating and disappointing, but we have to keep in mind we still took a point, we could have lost that game."
Ales Pajovic (SLO) – head coach, Austria
On the result:
“I am happy with this big point because like the game against Croatia and the draw against Spain also felt like a win.
“Our defence was really really great today I have to say with [Lukas] Herburger and [Michael] Miskovez and the rest also, they did incredible jobs. It is our fifth game in eight days and with our bench that is not so easy.
“Today we saw how important the goalkeeper is in handball and Konsti [Constantin Möstl] was incredible. I think the best game he ever had. I hope he will continue like that.
“I am happy with the defence and that in attack we played good six against six. [Andreas] Wolff was really good again, we missed some shots and on the other hand you can see that we lost a little bit of power because we don’t have the players to change that’s why I go a lot with seven against six.
“In the end I have to say we are really happy with this point. I have to congratulate my guys, they were fighting. For Austria it is something incredible that we are in the main round with four points.”
Constantin Möstl (AUT) - goalkeeper
On the game:
"It's a bit crazy right now, I think we almost played perfect for 50 minutes but then we had problems with the offence. Thankfully, the defence was amazing and we did not take that many goals. It feels more like a little bit of a dream, we have so much confidence that not much can shake us off."
On his own performance:
"It's not only about me but also about the defence. We played amazingly well, we did not let them come close to the goal, we were able to resist physically. We were all very tired, but the prospect of beating Germany at home made us forget about that. We are really, really happy for the result."
On Austria keeping the momentum in the competition:
"It's crazy but I really think that the confidence is at its highest. Again today, we did not have anything to lose, we played our chance without any second thoughts and that was the perfect situation for us."
Markus Mahr (AUT) - centre back
On the game:
"Absolutely crazy. The plan was simple, to remain in the game for as long as we could, but we did not think we would be four goals ahead in the second half. Our defence held tight, we played every ball 100 per cent and that's the result."
On remaining calm when Germany came back on the scoreboard:
"There was no panic, no pressure. When you are in such an atmosphere, the main thing is not to let them take the lead. They never did in the second half, I think. So we always remained in control and we never panicked."
On Constantin Möstl's performance:
"There are days like this when you feel like nothing could happen to you, and it was one of these. He held us up through the whole 60 minutes."
HUNGARY vs CROATIA
Chema Rodriguez (ESP) – head coach, Hungary
On the victory against Croatia:
“I think it was 1998 when we beat Croatia last time. We are so happy that we can win. I think we made a really good job today. We defended well, our goalkeeper saved a lot and like this we could play more quiet attack.
“I am sure that after the defeat against Austria almost everybody thinks that we aren’t a good team but today we demonstrated that we are one team, we are a family. I am so happy for players like Richie [Richárd Bódó], like László Bartucz, for all the team. I am so proud of everybody.”
On the upcoming match against Germany:
“I don’t think about this match so much. We go match by match. We are going to celebrate this big victory for us five minutes and afterwards we will think about Germany and the preparation of the match.
“For me it is important that the players have a good recovery. And I think that everybody knows them. They have really amazing goalkeepers, they can run fast attack if you make mistakes in attack and more important, they have one of the best coaches in the world. I always say that if I finish my career and I have 30 per cent of the experience like Alfred [Gislason] has, I would be satisfied.”
Patrik Ligetvári (HUN) - left back
On the game:
"It was a really great match, both teams played very good, especially in defence. What made the difference was probably our goalkeeper, who made a lot of amazing saves. He helped us staying in front. During the last minutes of the game, our defence really stuck together and we did not let them take easy shots."
On the fact that the game was a very defensive one:
"Both teams played really well defensively. We tried to score fast goals, we did too, but it's like we knew what was going to happen. Every player was really running back fast. I think we found more solutions than them on half-court play, even though it was really hard. We are very happy about the way we played, and we are very happy to bounce back after the loss from Thursday night."
Máté Lékai (HUN) - centre back
On the game:
"It was a really tough game, really physical, against a very good game of Croatia. In these games, heart can make a lot of difference and we put a lot of it tonight. We always believed in ourselves, we really helped each other during 60 minutes, even when they came back. We can be really proud of the game we played."
On the heart Hungary has been showing since the beginning of the EURO:
"This is one of our characteristics, we give it all and fight until the end. We might not be the best team, some might have best players, but our state of mind, you can't discuss it. We leave everything on the court, we play every game as if it was our last, and that works."
On the chances for Hungary to progress:
"Our next game is Germany in Germany, so it's hard to say anything else than ‘let's see’. The only sure thing is that we will fight for the next two games, try to win them both and we'll see where it takes us. We really want to play the 5-6 final to get a chance to go to the Olympics, but if we can do better than that, then of course we will do it.”
Goran Perkovac (CRO) – head coach, Croatia
On the defeat by Hungary:
“They played a little bit better than us. I have felt, we can play two hours and we don’t have a chance to win because of our bad, bad game. We played without energy, we played without pressure, we did not have enough shots, we had not enough preparation for shot. Everything was less than normal.”
On why they lost:
“I don’t want to criticise but our back did not throw enough, our left back, right back, centre back. And our left wing, right wing – it was not enough today. In the defence we made a lot of mistakes. At jump in the normal case, we had to go out and foul. In the defence you have to fight, you have to block, but our defence mostly did nothing.
“At the end of this game, we had a lot of problems with [Bence] Bánhidi, then three, four times two-minutes we received, that was the problem. But our energy was not enough today.”
Veron Nacinovic (CRO) – line player
On the game:
“It was a tough match, really slow, during which the defences had the upper hand. There a lot of fouls, a lot of missed shots as well. We had problems finding solutions against their defence and when we did, we missed the shots. We are really disappointed.”
On the performance of László Bartucz, the Croatian goalkeeper:
“We could not find solutions to beat him, he was in a really great day. He was definitely the best player on the court today, and one of the main reasons why Hungary took the points.”
Mateo Maraš (CRO) - right back
On the game:
“There was something wrong with our performance today, we played really slow, which is not the way we usually play. And we struggled in front of their defence. We defended well too, but they got a lot of rebounds, our goalkeeper made saves but they kept the ball. We also made a lot of technical errors. We really did not play well.”
On the chances for Croatia to progress to the semi-finals:
“It’s going to be hard now, but we will play the last two games of the group phase to win them. And then, we will see where we are after that.”
FRANCE vs ICELAND
Guillaume Gille (FRA) – head coach, France
On the win:
“It was a very important game for us tonight and we played against a very attractive and strong team from Iceland. So, this is why we are satisfied to win and to have two more points on the way to the semi-final. With Iceland in our history it was always a big fight, just like this time, so that we can be satisfied about our performance.”
Samir Bellahcene (FRA) - goalkeeper
On his performance:
"It's great that I was able to help the team. The game was a weird one, like we were always ahead but they were always two or three goals behind. We did not feel too threatened but they remained dangerous until the end. I'm happy I could show what I could do, but tonight is not an ending in itself, just another step."
On France edging closer to the semi-finals:
"I'm terrible at calculations, but I guess that, with six points, we are heading in the right direction. It feels like the team has been, since the game against Switzerland, getting better and better. We know that we have a tough game against Austria and we want to win it to avoid any bad surprises in the last round."
Melvyn Richardson (FRA) - right back
On the game:
"The defeat from the EURO 2022 was still stuck in our throats so I'm glad we were able to turn things around this time. Iceland always have this aggressive offence and you have to find other solutions compared to the previous games, but we managed to do it. Overall, we gave a very good performance."
On France edging closer to the semi-finals:
"The goal is to win games, not to make calculations so it does not matter, to be honest. We have to keep things going, we have to keep winning games and to push in the same direction, no matter who is our opponent. It's hard to focus every two days on a different game, but this is what we have to do anyway."
Snorri Stein Guðjónsson (ISL) – head coach, Iceland
On the defeat:
“We had problems today and we were competing against a really good team. We had a lot of defence problems and France was always doing what they wanted to do. We wanted to help our goalkeepers. And if France is playing like this, it is always hard to do anything against.”
Janus Smarason (ISL) - centre back
On the game:
"Tough one, to be honest, there is not much to say."
On what Iceland missed today:
"Our defence was really bad, we took so many goals we could not compete with them, even if our offence was ok."
On the chances for Iceland to make it through:
"We'll see tonight, maybe we will still have a chance if we win the last two games. But of course, it is nearly over now."
Gisli Kristjansson (ISL) - centre back
On the game:
"Basically, they did what they wanted on offence. It was really hard for us, they always had a solution and we did not help our goalkeepers enough. It is hard to win a handball game when you take that many goals."
On the chances for Iceland to proceed:
"It's almost over now, we could have a few chances left tonight after the game, but not much. We'll see how things go but we have to try our best to win the remaining games anyway. We can't throw them off by the window and say we don't care anymore.”
