Post-match flash quotes: semi-finals, 3 May

GRAZ - Comments from HSG Blomberg Lippe head coach Steffen Birkner (GER), left wing Ona Vegue I Pena (ESP) and right back Laetitia Quist (GER), and Ikast Håndbold head coach Søren Hansen (DEN) and left back Julie Scaglione (DEN); Thüringer HC head coach Herbert Müller (GER) and goalkeeper Dinah Eckerle (GER) and left wing Anna Szabó (HUN), and JDA Bourgogne Dijon Handball head coach Clement Alcacer (FRA) and left back Gnonsiane Niombla (FRA) and line player Sara Valero (FRA)

HSG BLOMBERG-LIPPE vs IKAST HÅNDBOLD

Steffen Birkner (GER) – head coach, HSG Blomberg-Lippe

“Congrats to Ikast. I think Ikast were the better team over 60 minutes. We had problems in offensive play and we found no good solutions against their good defence. We lost 17 shots and Ikast run very well the fast break. In defence we were ok, but our offensive play was not good. Ikast have a great team. Our goal was to leave our heart in the arena. We did that, but the quality of Ikast is so high.”

Ona Vegue I Pena (ESP) – left wing, HSG Blomberg-Lippe

“We are going to sleep tonight and think a little bit, we will see our video and the mistakes we have done. But tomorrow we have another chance to get a medal. We will fight with everything that we have.”

Laetitia Quist (GER) – right back, HSG Blomberg-Lippe

On how they explain being so far behind early in the match:

"I think that in the beginning we did not have a lot of confidence and maybe that threw us off a bit, that we were maybe a little bit afraid of what was coming towards us. And I think that we need to get rid of this for tomorrow, of course, and we have to be more confident and maybe think less and do more."

On playing better in the second half:

"As I said, we need to learn from this today and I think that Ikast are one of the teams here that are a little bit more advanced, because they did this already. This is pretty new for us, so we have to learn from it, watch the video and do a better job tomorrow."

Søren Hansen (DEN) – head coach, Ikast Håndbold

“We had to be ready for the game, we needed to have respect for the team Blomberg-Lippe, who have done well this tournament. We wanted to run a lot, make it hard for them to succeed in this game and the players were ready from the beginning.”

Julie Scaglione (DEN) – left back, Ikast Håndbold

“We like to be here. We have no preference (for the final opponent), we need to beat any team that is in the tournament. Any team is good and you have to beat those teams to win, so I don’t have any preference.”

THÜRINGER HC vs JDA BOURGOGNE DIJON HANDBALL

Herbert Müller (GER) – head coach, Thüringer HC

On today's semi-final:

“It was a very open match, a match that was enjoyable for all the spectators that were in the hall. I am very happy with the achievement of my team. I think that if you play tournaments like these, you need experience. The first time you play it, you just pay the price. This season, we have this experience and I could feel it the whole week that the team is ready to go to the final. I could feel that the team was relaxed, but also had this fighting spirit.”

Dinah Eckerle (GER) – goalkeeper, Thüringer HC

On the plan for tomorrow:

“We prepared one week for Dijon, now we need to close the Dijon chapter and look to Ikast, so we need to make a plan in 24 hours. I think we can do that. Ikast are a really good team, they have many individual, powerful players. It will be a tough match for us. Then I hope that we will fight like always, like we also did today. I am really proud of my team. We knew that it would be intense against Dijon.”

On her last EHF Finals:

“It means a lot to me, it was also my personal goal to go to the Finals and to have a chance to get the trophy, to bring the trophy to THC. That would be a really nice ending to my career, to give something back. We will do everything to go for it tomorrow.”

Anna Szabó (HUN) – left wing, Thüringer HC

On the semi-final victory:

"We worked a lot in this match, we knew that Dijon are a really, really strong team, they have a lot of young players, but also experienced ones. And I think they are third in the French league, so obviously we knew that it would be hard, but we practiced a lot. We only practiced for them this week and now we are really happy that we could solve what the coach asked from us, like winning against Giegerich in the goal."

On the final against Ikast Håndbold:

"I expect a really fast match, because Ikast run like crazy. I think they could also play in the Champions League, they have good players, such as Jamina Roberts. I am only 20 and for me it is a pleasure to play against them, but we will try everything and in the final anything can happen."

On whether she had time to watch the previous semi-final:

"We watched a few minutes and they were super good. We played a lot against Blomberg this season, because they are also German, and I we were a bit surprised because of the first half, Ikast were already 10 goals ahead, so they are really good."

Clement Alcacer (FRA) – head coach, JDA Bourgogne Dijon Handball

On today's semi-final defeat:

“THC are a beautiful team, there are a lot of possibilities. The first time for our team, with a lot of young players, we gave a lot of energy. We lost in the first half because they fight all the time, they push all the action. And Johanna Reichert scores a lot of goals, we push, but she shoots and shoots, it’s very difficult for us. We thought we would be able to manage this situation, but we were not. We just have to focus on tomorrow, it’s very important for us to win a medal, to win against Blomberg once in the year.”

Gnonsiane Niombla (FRA) – left back, JDA Bourgogne Dijon Handball

On the defeat and tomorrow's game against HSG Blomberg-Lippe:

“Today it was hard because the EHF Finals is a competition, you have to go one time through it to feel it. This is our first time. We want to finish on a positive note, it’s normal that we are disappointed, but tomorrow we will be here, ready to fight, 100 per cent sure.”

Sara Valero (FRA) – line player, JDA Bourgogne Dijon Handball

On the difference between the first and second half:

“I think in the second half we opened a lot to take the ball and we had a lot of energy and close to the end, when we saw it was over, we lost a lot of balls. Normally we don’t lose many balls and the difference was that tonight.”

On the red card received by Claire Vautier:

“Claire is one of the best players of our team, she is very dangerous in defence and attack. So for us, when she took the red card, we had to do something else and it changed the dynamic too.”

On Sunday’s match against HSG Blomberg-Lippe.

“We played two times against Blomberg in the group phase and we lost a game at the end, so we have to concentrate. We will analyse the video, but we know the team, so the video will help improve.”

Photo © kolektiff