Flash quotes: 27 November
BASEL/DEBRECEN/INNSBRUCK - Comments from Poland head coach Arne Senstad (NOR), right back Monika Kobylinska and left back Paulina Uscinowicz (both POL), and France head coach Sébastien Gardillou, left back Estelle Nze Minko and centre back Grace Zaadi Deuna (all FRA) at a media call at the Marriott Hotel in Basel; Türkiye head coach Costica Buceschi (ROU), left wing Elif Sila Aydin and left back Asli Iskit-Caliskan (both TUR), and North Macedonia head coach Kristijan Grchevski, right wing Sara Ristovska and right back Iva Mladenovska (all MKD) at a media call at the Hotel Mercure in Debrecen; and Slovakia head coach Jorge Duenas (ESP), right back Barbora Lancz and left back Tatiana Šutranová (both SVK) at a photoshoot at the Olympiahalle in Innsbruck, on Wednesday.
FRANCE
Sébastien Gardillou (FRA) – head coach
On how he is feeling before throw-off:
“It’s not my first European Championship. This is my eighth. I have some experience about how I think we must organise our beginning, but I'm quiet.
“I try to take some distance, range, about this new situation for me and not to work so fast — because I work fast and make some pressure on the players — because it's not the time. I'm thrilled to be here. Honoured that the federation gave me the lead for this team and proud for sure.”
On the group:
“Hard, but how it could be different when you start a European Championship? It's usually the same thing — I don't know why, but when this is the draw, we start with a strong team. In the World Championship, it was Angola. It the Olympics, it was Hungary.
“I have followed this world for 24 years and, in my opinion, it's every team is better year after year. Everybody works hard. There's a lot of players who play (EHF) Champions League and (EHF) European League, and it's terrible and difficult for each game.
“We start with Poland. OK. We must start against someone. Poland, I think it's very strong team. A good leader with Arne (Senstad, head coach). And what they can lose? Nothing. If they can make some difficulty for the French team, it's better for them. How we can turn this situation in our advantage. This is my mind, and I would like to tell them tomorrow, ‘OK, so strong team, and it's a strong team after. Think it will be hard and then go ahead.’”
Estelle Nze Minko (FRA) – left back
On the pre-EURO atmosphere:
“These days are always a little special, even though it was a very short preparation. But it's a championship, so it's great. I guess everyone is fixing the last details. We know that it's never easy to start a competition.
“This first game is a little key. You never really know if you did enough during the preparation or if you could have done more. I think this first game is also a little special in a way that you know your opponent for a long time, so you have actually a long time to prepare it, which is good.
“But at the same time, of course, when you step on the court for such a competition and you have goals to go far in the competition, there is also some kind of pressure, so it's always a little special. Plus, from now the rhythm is going to change a lot — one game every second day. So, there are a lot of things going on but a lot of excitement.”
On managing the big goals day by day:
“We're experienced and we have high goals, but we also know that it's never written before. We also had a couple of experiences — like now I'm thinking about the World Championship in Japan in 2019, where we also thought that we were in, that we were ready, and obviously we were not because we couldn't go to the main round.
“So, we are also very aware of that — that it's not because you have high goals that somehow you kind of go straight to main round and straight to the last four. I think that was hard back then, when it happened, but I think that it's also something that keeps us somehow very, you know, feet on the ground and humble.
“Also, the truth is that handball is getting better. That's a good thing. There are more good players. There are more good teams. I really feel that everyone is dangerous and it's a EURO, so the best teams are here, so we also know that if we are not playing good, we're not going to win and it actually happened to us a couple of days ago in this last preparation tournament. We lost against Spain. We had a tough time, so I also think that we are very feet on the ground.
On Poland:
“They are a very good team and of course we started to watch videos and to study them. They play really good. It's a team that we haven't played in a long time. I think the last time was in 2021, in the World Championship in Spain.
“We know many of the players — some of them have been playing in France. Some of them have been playing with some of my teammates as well. It's a very serious team, like all the others, so that's definitely going to be a tough game. It's a tough game to start with.”
Grace Zaadi Deuna (FRA) – centre back
On the group:
“It's a tough, tough group and it's not easy to start with Poland. Poland is a great team with great players. They have, I think, a very balanced team — on each position, you know, they are very good. And we all know that France struggle every time to enter into the competition, so it's not an easy game.
“Second game, we have Spain. Even if it's a new Spanish team, with the young players and everything, I think it's more dangerous. And we saw this a few days ago. We had one friendly game against them, and we lost. It's a team, I think, it's easy to underestimate them, but they have this ‘grinta’ [sic.] thing, like the Spanish thing that will push them to go far, I think maybe, in this competition.
“And then we have Portugal. We aren't used to playing against Portuguese players, so we don't really know them. But as I’ve already seen, it's a great team that plays good handball. They have a good team play and for the moment we didn't really analyse them because it's our third game. But it will not be, I think, easy games — every game for us will be a very difficult and it's very difficult to predict, you know, how many points we will all get at the end of this first group.”
On whether experiencing tough first games has taught them how to handle it:
“We still don’t know, and I hate myself for this because, like, before every competition, it's been maybe many years — like since I'm in this French national team — it's a fact. And I hate to say that because sometimes you cannot have, you know, this second chance and particularly in a European Championship where every point is very precious.
“I don't know how to explain this, but as I said, it's a fact. We struggle every time to enter in the competition. It’s more or less a good thing because we know that we can develop and, you know, increase the quality of our playbook. But I just hope that we will play good, and we will win the first game. This is my expectation.”
On whether things have changed with the change in coach from Olivier Krumbholz to Gardillou:
“Not inside the team, but more outside. Pressure that maybe also the coach has, you know, on his shoulders, because it's not easy, I think, to take the lead, after this Krumbholz reign. Krumbholz stayed maybe more than 20 years here and at the end, we had some good results and of course everybody expects him (Gardillou) also to follow, you know, this road.
“I think it's also up to us to help him to achieve great things. It's all about collaboration. So, for me, I think personally, you know, it gives me also more motivation to be efficient and to succeed, and to win in always the national team for him because he has been here for many years. He worked a lot in the shadow, and he was very precious to the team.
“I just hope that now it will be also his time in the spotlight. Inside the team, how the team works and everything, it's so good. It's a very caring atmosphere. Lovely but also very serious. And I just hope that we will be able to go very far in this competition, also for him.”
TÜRKIYE
Costica Buceschi (ROU) - head coach
On Türkiye’s Women's EHF EURO 2024 debut:
"For us, it is a very difficult tournament because it's the first time that we are here. First, we enjoy every day that we are here and every game as well.
“We don't have too much experience at this level, actually we don't have any experience at this level, but we want to be here. We fought for this place and now, we want to show to everybody that we can play handball."
On the opening match against Hungary:
"It will be very difficult for us because we are starting the competition against the co-hosts, Hungary. I know the passionate supporters in Hungary because I played here as a handball player myself, but we watched how they were playing in their last friendly match and we will try to make some good strategy for them.”
Elif Sila Aydin (TUR) - left wing
On making Türkiye proud:
"I'm so happy to be here at this tournament because we are here for the first time. This is so historical for our country and I'm so honoured and happy to be part of this, but I know that It will be hard. I know that because we're going to play for the first time against such a strong opponents."
On playing at the Women's EHF EURO 2024 as one of the debutants:
"That motivates us because we are so excited for the games, for this atmosphere. We will see it for the first time as we always watch (these type of matches) from our TV screens. And now, we're going to feel this atmosphere. So that's a big motivation and hopefully, everything will be okay for us, for our team."
On the teams playing in group A:
"On paper, two teams (Hungary and Sweden) seem more stronger, but every team playing at the Women's EHF EURO 2024 is a strong one. We will try to get points and try to win games. However, I'm so proud about my team, about my country and every teammate thinks the same. It's good that we are at this tournament and we want to be also at next tournament."
Asli Iskit-Caliskan (TUR) - left back
On the opening match against Hungary:
"It's so exciting for us to play here because we had never played at a European or World Championship before. All the girls are really excited to play the opening game and we are impatiently waiting."
On their opponents in group A:
"It's going to be so hard because we are playing Hungary and they are always aiming for a medal. They will run a lot and we have to run back with them. But also, we have to be calm and we have to be focused on our game, and we want to play best handball that we can.
“I think they are favourites, then Sweden, as the Scandinavian national teams are always the best. Finally, there is Macedonia and I think that we should win against them, and to show our handball to all of Europe, because we are the new faces at this tournament, I think we should prove something."
On using the Women's EHF EURO 2024 as platform to promote Turkish handball:
"We have too many young players and too many players who want to play at international level, outside of Türkiye. And at this platform everybody is watching you and all the spotlights are aimed at you. It is really nice, but it's also very hard. We have to be focused and enjoy in this moment, because we want to enjoy always. We have to be proud of ourselves and enjoy to play handball here.”
POLAND
Arne Senstad (NOR) - head coach
On the friendly matches they have played in preparation:
"It's shown that we are a team that need these kind of matches. It's still our challenge that too many of my girls are playing still in Poland, and don't get this experience other than in the championships to play teams like this.
"All the time we need these matches. We also saw, especially the last two matches against Sweden, that in the first match we really had some troubles, but then again in the second we managed to step up and be really close.
"On the best days, if we get the maximum out of every player, for sure we can play these teams. But in other days, our lowest level is still too low. We are excited and we want to play and we want to fight, and we'll have to see how the level is."
On developments since 2022:
"We don't maybe have the biggest stars, but we've tried to build this team. We started five years ago, and we started quite soon to put together an almost new team, with upcoming players and younger players, get some of them out in Europe to play for some good clubs. But still maybe I could wish (for) more of them to do this.
"We are trying to take care of this team attitude, that as a team we should try to reach our goals. I think that has showed also the last years that we are working with details all the time, that we are working with the physical condition, with how to play the modern handball, to try to develop the whole Polish handball.
"In both the EURO and the World Championship I think we don't have so much luck with the draw, we had really tough opponents in our groups all the time. Also this time for sure we didn't have the maximum luck - of course all teams are good, but I think that we have the ability and the chance to get this breakthrough. But I had hoped for some easier draws in some of the championships.
"The girls are developing. The girls really believe in the project and of course the federation, but it's hard for all the Polish to see that when I say and we say we are developing they cannot see it in the ranking, because that's not been too good. But we have the ability to fight for the top 10, top 12 for sure, but then again we need to beat some of the much higher-ranked opponents."
On their opponents at the EHF EURO:
"Everyone's talking about Spain, and that's for sure correct that they are new, but you saw this weekend in France (in the Golden League) that we are still talking about really good handball players.
"They still have a really really good team, and much higher-ranked than us.
"Portugal also, a team that's on their way up, for sure will give all 100 per cent. But this should be also in a championship.
"And France for sure also one of the top nations. We could have maybe seen a little bit easier group, but it will always be like this.
"We are ready to fight, and we need to take care of our business and have our players on their top level because then we are quite a good team."
Monika Kobylinska (POL) - right back
On how the team is feeling:
"We are feeling good, we came here already on Monday so it's also nice that we had a little bit of time to get used to things here. Of course it's getting closer and closer, tomorrow is the first game, so you can feel that it's more and more emotion, but we can't wait to start."
On their first match against France:
"We have a big respect to France, of course, we know how big is the team. But we are actually focusing a lot on ourselves, to just play the best game we can. We believe in our team and let's see what the game will bring."
On how the team has developed in recent years:
"You can see in our play that we developed a lot and we are a better team. Also now for some years already with Arne (Senstad) we build the group so that it's similar, with small changes. We feel good together.
"Maybe not all the tournaments were good for us - maybe sometimes unlucky, maybe sometimes if we fix small details the result would be much better. So I hope it's the time now for that to show for real what a team we are."
On Spain and Portugal, their other preliminary round opponents:
"Spain is a team that we know good and also have full respect (for). They are also showing in the big tournaments that they can play against everyone. We also know that it can be a key game for us, and we are focusing a lot on that. We are preparing with the tactic about it and maybe Portugal and Spain they are probably a little bit the same type, and play a lot one-against-one, and a lot of moments in defence.
"We know how good they are but we also know how good we are, so I think everything is open."
Paulina Uscinowicz (POL) - left back
On how the team is feeling:
"We are really excited. We wait for one year for the big championship so we really can't wait. We are ready, and we are just counting down the hours until tomorrow's game."
On the first game, against France:
"Meeting France in the first group game, it's a special thing. We expect hard handball, fast handball. But it doesn't matter against who we will start, we are really concentrated for the first game and we want to play our good handball from the start."
On the team's development:
"Definitely we have developed many things. Sometimes we are not happy about the result because they are not clearly presenting us as a team, but we definitely stepped up and we improve as a team. It's a perfect chance now to show our development and reach some good results with good handball."
NORTH MACEDONIA
Kristijan Grchevski (MKD) - head coach
On setting a goal for the squad ahead of the start of the tournament:
"Our goal has already been achieved by successfully qualifying for the Women's EHF EURO 2024 as one of the youngest squads and the appearance at the European championship will be a key point for us, for gaining valuable experience for the future."
On the opening match against Sweden:
"We can definitely feel the nerves, but in a positive way, although at the same time we are playing Sweden, which are primed to fight for a medal at the championship and we will try to represent ourselves in the best possible way. However, we are going to calculate a little bit as our target is the match against Türkiye, where we see our best chance of winning."
On how the young squad copes with playing at such a big tournament:
"We have a core group of experienced players and the rest of the squad consists of very young players and this championship will be of true value for our young players. In fact, we need a continuity of playing at major tournaments to become more experienced as a squad that we can use for the future.
“However, I feel that we hold accountability for that to achieve as a nation, as coaches in our country, the players themselves and hopefully, we can achieve that altogether."
On the atmosphere in the Fönix Arena:
"I hope the arena will be full and I hope that our passionate Macedonian supporters will be in in the stands to give us the support that we need."
Sara Ristovska (MKD) - right wing
On their preparations:
"We had good preparations ahead of the tournament, mainly in Porec (Croatia) and we played a couple of friendly matches in which we found out the things that we need to work on, both in defence and attack in order to prepare in the best possible way for the matches at the Women's EHF EURO 2024."
On their expectations for the EHF EURO:
"We have full focus on the next three matches and especially on the game against Türkiye because we know how important is that match for us and the possible win. Hopefully, we can stay disciplined and focused to achieve our goal at this tournament."
On being one of the more experienced players in the squad:
"We endure a change of generation within the squad that already lasts for a few years and it's a bit difficult because it's a bit tricky to translate some of our experience to the young players as they need to experience some things on the court and then, we can add do that.
“Definitely, the young players are on the right path and we have a lot of young players who are already playing for international clubs, outside of our country.”
On the opening match against Sweden:
"It's going to be a tough match as we know how good Sweden are, but we will try to adapt a patient style of play, which I don't think suits them because they want to play fast-paced style of play, but we are going to try our best and leave our hearts on the pitch because we shouldn't take for granted playing at a European championship. I believe in my squad as a captain."
Iva Mladenovska (MKD) - right back
On the opening match against Sweden:
"My expectations are that we'll play a great game, that will show that we can play against anyone and against such a strong opponent as Sweden are, which we know is one of the best teams in today's handball and they play really great, so I think we can show that we can live up to them.
On being earmarked by the EHF as one of the young players to watch at the Women's EHF EURO 2024:
"I'm really honoured by that and I'm happy that they think like that of me and I hope that I can prove that that's true."
On how the squad feels ahead of the tournament:
"We have set goals. We have goals to play good in every game. To show the best of our team and the best that we can play. And also we want to win some matches.
“I think we have a chance against Türkiye to win. I think we have a chance against anyone, but the biggest chance is Türkiye. And I think we have good chemistry in the team, we are really great prepared."
On how she will approach playing some of her idols at the Women's EHF EURO 2024:
"There are a lot of players I look up to, probably some of the older ones that I've watched on TV a couple of years ago. I'm really, really honoured to play against them. I think the Swedish team has really good players you can look up to and it's a pleasure to play at the championship."
SLOVAKIA
Jorge Duenas (ESP) - head coach
On their preparation:
"The preparation was good, but we have some small problems because we had two important injuries. For us it's a disappointment because in the last match against Ukraine, the friendly match against Ukraine, we had an important injury for one player - Adriana Holejová - so in this moment for us it's a disappointment.
"But the most important thing is to focus on our team. This is a sport as a team, so in general I'm satisfied with the preparation of this EURO."
On the future for the team:
"After 10 years this is the first time that Slovakia qualify for the EURO. For us it's very important because now it's a new generation, with new players. We must focus during the first round because I think that we have some chance to continue to the main round.
"But we're working for the future at the same time, because in two years we have our EURO in our country, so that is important to focus now."
On the first match, against Austria:
"The first match always is difficult. For the players it's a start of the championship. We have a problem to play against one of the teams who organises this tournament, and it's a little bit difficult because normally the team who play at home they have a lot of supporters and good emotion.
"We must take advantage of this, because sometimes this is not good for the team who play at home because they're maybe very nervous. We must play with calm and try to focus during these 60 minutes."
Barbora Lancz (SVK) - right back
On being at the EHF EURO:
"It's amazing. We are happy that we are already here. Yesterday we went training and today we're so excited to train and do this photoshooting. We can't wait to play tomorrow and show our performance to the whole (of) Europe."
On their return to the EURO after 10 years:
"It's very special also for the whole country because it's after 10 years, so we're very happy. We have a good team, a young team, but we prove ourselves year by year."
On what to expect from Slovakia:
"We are a young team, so maybe we want to surprise because we are very good. We are confident enough to try to face the big teams, so we will try to do our best and of course we want some points maybe to go to the main round."
On their first game against Austria:
"It's special because they're at home, they also want to go to the main round. I think it will be a very good match both from our side and their side. We will be focused and prepare 100 per cent. The day will show if we will be more lucky and maybe better."
Tatiana Šutranová (SVK) - left back
On being at the EHF EURO:
"As a team we are very excited. After a long time Slovakia qualified for the EURO so for many player it's the first time.
"We hope to show our best game, our best performance, and we are focused and we want to keep it like that for all of the games."
On what they hope to learn from their participation:
"For many of us it can be one of the most important games in the career, for young players maybe to start their career, maybe to have a chance to leave Slovakia, leave the Slovak league and try how it is outside, in different leagues and different countries.
"For more experienced players we hope for them to take more responsibility to show the focus and to lead the team."
On the meaning of their participation for Slovakia:
"Handball is for sure growing in the past few years, it's been more and more popular. We still cannot compare it with other ball sports in Slovakia - let's say ice hockey would be the most fan favourite - but handball is getting its popularity, and with that comes more responsibility to show that it's worth its popularity."
