De Arruda: "Now we want more and more"

"I didn't expect the match in Ikast to be so hard for us. But they play the Scandinavian style of handball, which it about taking the best possibilities all the time. The gap after the first half was quite big, but we did a good job after the break," the 27-year-old says.

De Arruda was happy about her own performance in Denmark, but she prefers to speak about the team as a unit.

"I say all the time that I'm not alone on the court, even if I'm alone in my area. We do a common job, and a goalkeeper always depends on defence. In the first half at Ikast, we made too many mistakes, which put us in a bad position. But after the break, the team improved in attack, we also played better in defence, which helped to turn the tide."

However, Bistrita's one-goal advantage is quite shaky, and the second-leg match is also expected to be very tight.

"I don't think it will be easier at home, even with our supporters behind us. The chances are still 50:50. But we have prepared well for this game, and let's see what happens," the Brazilian says.

The Romanian team are playing their just second season in the continental top flight, and while they failed to progress from the group in their debut 2024/25 season, now Bistrita have clearly improved. With 16 points, they finished fourth in group A, securing a play-offs spot, and now they have a chance to reach the quarter-final and face Brest Bretagne Handball.

"Last year, we knew that it would be hard to reach the play-offs, and we couldn't do it. But now we have more experience, which helped us to take more victories. The home win over Esbjerg was particularly memorable — the Danish side have much more experience at this level, but we tried to play our game and claimed a somewhat unexpected win," says de Arruda, who has recorded 207 saves (31 per cent efficiency) in 15 matches of the current tournament.

The goalkeeper says that Bistrita's goal at the start of the season was to try to reach the play-offs: "We did it, and now we want more and more. We expect to win the next match against Ikast, and we can write history, even if I don't like to think in these terms."

De Arruda started her career in Brazil, but moved to Europe at the age of 18. She played for Club Balonmano La Calzada and Balonmano Bera Bera in Spain before joining CS Măgura Cisnădie in 2021 and then Gloria Bistrita in 2022.

With Bistrita, the Brazilian goalkeeper became the runners-up of the 2023/24 EHF European League, and she has a lot of memories about that campaign.

"It was unbelievable. Our goal was to reach the quarter-final, but we made it to the EHF Finals, and when we beat Brăila in the semi-final, we believed that we could win the title. In the end, we lost to Storhamar, but it was a great experience,” she says.

But now de Arruda plays in the EHF Champions League, and she appreciates it.

"For me, it means performing at the highest level of the club handball. It's really tough, but I have a feeling that I've done a really good job during these two years."

However, this is her last season at Bistrita. After four years at the club, the goalkeeper will move to CSM Corona Brasov in summer.

"Life goes in cycles, and the current cycle is coming to an end. Now I feel that I will be happier in another place. I actually had the same feeling when I moved from Spain to Romania," the Brazilian claims.

Now she will stay in Romania, where she has already played almost five years. What attracts de Arruda to the country and its handball?

"The league is really strong, the matches are unpredictable. And I like the country, that's why I'm not leaving it. Unfortunately I don't have time to travel a lot and visit some more places in Romania, but I feel good here," she concludes.

Photos © Kevin Clement, Hamistolen.dk, Bianca Sălăgean - WolfArt Agentia de SocialMedia