Kapitanovic fulfilling promise to herself in Budapest

Kapitanovic missed most of the 2020/21 season after tearing an ACL in October 2020. The knee injury kept her away from the courts for nine months.

“This 2021/22 season is kind of a revenge for me. The club did not win any trophy last year, so I want to win everything I can this time,” says the 27-year-old Croatian international, who joins Romanian champions CS Rapid Bucuresti next season.

“It was a hard time for me, mentally. Seeing your teammates lose games and not being able to be there, is an awful feeling. So, now I want to win everything. I want to leave Metz as a champion.”

Part one of her desired trophy trilogy has been successfully completed: Metz defeated Brest Bretagne Handball last weekend in the two-leg play-off for the French league title: 49:48 on aggregate.

Part three follows on 11 June, when Metz take on ESBF Besançon in the French cup final.

That leaves part two for this weekend: the EHF FINAL4 Women 2022 in Budapest.

Metz start their title chase in the semi-final against titleholders Vipers Kristiansand on Saturday (live on EHFTV at 18:00 CEST).

Having secured the domestic league title is essential to Kapitanovic.

“Honestly, that was the most important one. For the club, of course. But also to get things going,” she says.

“I can’t imagine how it would have been: travelling to Budapest for the EHF FINAL4 having just lost the national title. I do feel like we are a little bit more relaxed now.”

For Kapitanovic and for Metz, it will be their second visit to an EHF FINAL4 event, after their debut three years ago. Metz came off a stunning season but stumbled and fell flat on their face on the court in Budapest, with defeats to Rostov-Don and Vipers.

“In 2019, the EHF FINAL4 was a new thing for all of us,” Kapitanovic remembers.

“It felt like, by qualifying, we had won the EHF Champions League already. We were happy just being able to say that we had qualified.”

This time, the mindset will be different.

“We have more experience now. Playing the EHF FINAL4 is a dream, an incredible event, I have no words to describe it. But we are not going to Disneyland, we are there to win a trophy, not just to take part in the event. And we have now understood it.”

The semi-final Saturday marks the third time Metz play Vipers this season, after the French side have clearly won both encounters in the group phase: 23:18 at home and 31:25 in Norway.

“But this one will be completely different. We have to forget everything that happened during the rest of the season. The EHF FINAL4 is a brand new competition, something that lives for itself and has no connection to the rest of the season,” Kapitanovic says.

And while the Croatian goalkeeper urges her team to forget about the first two games against Vipers this season, she does not want to forget the four seasons she has had in Metz. She might be leaving for Romania soon, the memories collected in France will last forever.

“I had the opportunity to play with players that became friends. And that is the best possible thing. I had wonderful moments in Metz, I had terrible moments as well, but overall, it was an amazing experience,” Kapitanovic says.

“But I don’t want to think about it just yet. I still have two more weeks to enjoy it.”

And, maybe, two more trophies.