by Sascha Staat

After losing to host Germany by 6 goals on Friday, Hungary also dropped its second and last match at the 3-team tournament against Poiand 29-31(17:17). Left-wing Nadine Schatzl spoke about the performance of her team and lookes ahead towards the rest of the club season with Györ AUDI ETO KC.

After losing to Germany you also lost to Poland, how do you sum up the two matches?

NS: Well, I hoped for much more. I think against Poland we did better than against Germany, at least we almost scored 30 goals, not just 20. Unfortunately, we made a lot of easy mistakes. We have to work on that and also focus more on our tactics. On top of it we also have to improve our defense.

Do you have any explanation for it? Many of your teammates compete in the Champions- or in the European League and I think you should expect more?

NS: We also expected more, for sure. I don’t know why we played the way we did. Our training sessions during the week have been the way we wanted it to be. Obviously, we want to improve and get better. But, there is something in the team which doesn’t work and we have to find out what it is.

Do you think it could be a mental problem?

NS: Maybe – I’m not sure. We just have to find the answer. We have no other chance. Sure, we hope for Noemi Hafra to come back soon, but she will need some time to get back to her level. Some of the other players were not here because of family reasons. But, we have to look ahead, otherwise it won’t work out.

Still, you won’t have much time together before the playoffs for the World championship.

NS: Yes, that’s true. There won’t be much time. Now, we have to shift our focus to the club team before we are back with the national team. But, to be honest, I expected more and I’m really disappointed.

So, what’s on your mind when you think about your club team in Györ? After a rough start to the season, you caught some fire lately and were able to finish second behind Metz in the group.

NS: Yes, we had a poor start, but lately we showed an improved performance. Soon, we will have a very important game against FTC, so we need to find our rhythm right away once we get back home. We cannot afford to lose our rhythm and I hope all players will come back 100 percent.

Which team did impress you the most so far in this Champions League campaign?

NS: Well, I think there are four to five teams which are on the same level. To be honest, I was really impressed by Bietigheim in the beginning. They started extremely well – I don’t know what happened to them as nothing worked out for them anymore.

Usually, everyone points to Györ as the big favorite to win the EHF Champions League. What’s your reaction as a player?

NS: It’s quite tough, actually. Maybe a lot of people think is easy – it isn’t. There are plenty of good teams out there and they have a lot of quality. As I said before, it’s four to five teams who can win it all. I disagree when somebody says we are the big favorite.