Arenhart: “What makes a team is the spirit and will to fight”

The starting whistle for the EHF Champions League Women 2021/22 play-offs will sound in Ljubljana on Saturday, as Krim Mercator Ljubljana host FTC-Rail Cargo Hungaria in their first-leg encounter and the Match of the Week (live on EHFTV at 16:00 CET).

The tie looks set to be a fiery thriller with two teams that have had their ups and downs this season but have proved they are formidable opponents when in their best form.

Krim were the last team confirmed for the play-offs, coming into the knockout round from sixth position in group B.

The Slovenian side took four wins, two draws and eight losses in the group phase — yet three of those defeats were by one goal and another was by two.

Some of the close results were against powerhouses in the competition for the past seasons: one-goal losses to Metz and defending champions Vipers and draws against CSKA and Metz.

“We have had so many matches that ended with a defeat for us, just about details. This was somehow pretty upsetting, because every time you lose a game, the feeling you have is that you are on the wrong way. But somehow, we always thought that we were doing right and working hard,” says Krim goalkeeper Barbara Arenhart, before commenting on the last group phase game, versus Sävehof. “I think we also showed in a very convincing game that we deserve this part — and let's fight.”

Fight Krim will, starting on equal footing with FTC in the first leg of their play-off.

“From now on, nothing that you did in the past counts. Of course, all the confidence you gain during the season is important to face these games, but still it's 0:0 and of course Ferencváros is going to be a tough opponent,” says Arenhart, who has met FTC many times due mainly to her four years spent in Hungary with Váci NKSE.

At 35, Arenhart has been playing professionally for many years and believes the competition is more equal than ever before — and at this point in the season in the top-flight competition, there can be no easy opponents.

“I'm really believing in us, but I think the team that is best prepared and also mentally calmer is going to get the chance,” says Arenhart.

Arenhart’s transfer to Krim this season followed quite a tour through Europe during her career, as she previously played for clubs in Spain, Norway, Austria, Romania, Denmark, Hungary and Montenegro after starting in her native Brazil.

What was it about Krim that attracted Arenhart’s interest?

“It's been already 15 years of a journey and eight different countries in Europe, and I'm really, really feeling very honoured about it,” says Arenhart, who arrived at Krim from Buducnost, where she spent one season.

“Krim offered a very nice project — they really believe in making a story again as they did 20 years ago, or now 21. I really got caught by this: their project and their ambitions and their will to get further this season again.

“I'm not a young player anymore and I can tell you that I have the same dream as they have — for now, that is that I still miss playing an [EHF] FINAL4 in my career. They showed their aims and the names that they wanted to bring. Of course, I came also with two of my old friends from Buducnost [Andrea Lekic and Allison Pineau], so it also made it easier and more interesting.”

Arenhart is no stranger to ‘projects’, having been part of the Brazil team that won the World Championship in 2013 during a time when the Brazilian Handball Federation had a partnership with Hypo Niederösterreich to develop their national squad by bringing players to the Austrian club.

In recent years, the national side has undergone rebuilding again and results are not far off — at the World Championship, Brazil went from 17^th in 2019 to sixth in 2021.

On a club level, Arenhart’s venture in Romania in 2014/15, with HCM Baia Mare, came at a time when the domestic league was aiming to grow — and since has become far more prominent on the international stage.

“I have been through every kind of process in different teams and also inside of my national team. When I first arrived, we were just struggling to win the Pan American Games and then suddenly we became like, an American powerhouse. I believe in processes, to be honest. I think nothing happens from one day to another. You can really have good, good names but what makes a team is the team and the spirit and the will for fighting,” reflects Arenhart.

“Now I feel really honoured to be part of this new rebuilding system of our national team as their team captain. Also, it is a privilege for me to watch these young players grow and learn, and to teach them what it takes to reach a gold medal. So, it has been, all these years, a beautiful journey with the ups and downs.”

What about Krim’s journey? The Slovenian club have lofty ambitions to return to the top of Europe, after winning the Champions League in 2000/01 and again in 2002/03. The squad are aware of these goals and that surely brings a long-term focus simultaneously with the concentration on the current season.

“In the world of sports, everything feels so urgent all the time,” says Arenhart, commenting on how results can often be expected to come quickly but for a rebuilding project there is also the question of patience.

The goalkeeper says she would never hold back on wanting to achieve something big in 2021/22, but she is also aware that the team’s strength will continue to grow beyond this season.

However, to perform at the highest level and be motivated to work towards the longer-term goals, Arenhart believes the shorter-term aims are vital.

“For now, I'm really, really focused on these two games because I really believe we can do it and hopefully then focus on the next two games. But I think the way we work, we all enforce that we need to stick to something and to believe in something, and then the things are going to happen one day.”

Aside from her role as a shot stopper for Krim this season, which has seen her play a pivotal role in several matches, Arenhart is the top scoring goalkeeper of the Champions League 2021/22 with six strikes so far.

Goalkeepers scoring goals has become increasingly commonplace in handball, and for Arenhart, that particular journey goes back a long way — to the 2011 World Championship.

“We played that World Championship in Brazil. We were playing with Tunisia, the score was 31:31 and then I had the last save,” says Arenhart. “I remember scoring the goal in the last seconds of the game and then we won and it was such a beautiful thing.

“From that day on, something clicked that, OK, you know, that maybe might be something, so the next game I scored again that way and I really practiced this a lot. Every day I take at least five to 10 shots because you never know when the chance will come.”

Arenhart recalls some of her most important goals this season, for example, against Metz when Krim were behind and she scored three times to give her team the lead.

“At the end, it's just about helping the team, but if you ask me, this became one of my favourite parts of the game.”

Arenhart and her teammates will take the court for the home leg of the play-offs against FTC at 16:00 CET on Saturday. There seems no clear favourite in this tie, and Arenhart is optimistic Krim’s journey in 2021/22 is not yet over:

“I have this feeling that we still have a lot in front of us and I'm just hoping for that.”