Defending champion KS Vive Kielce profited from Pick Szeged’s loss on the road against Meshkov Brest to stay on top of Group B in the EHF Champions League – still the squad needs to find form after suffering a defeat to German champion Rhein-Neckar Löwen on Thursday.  After the match Slovenian playmaker Uros Zorman talked about the team’s struggles, what needs improvement and how he experienced Slovenia winning a Bronze medal at the recent World championship without him on the floor.

What’s your take on the game, Uros, as you were never really close to take home two points?

UZ: Well, there’s not a lot to talk about today – it was a very tough game, we made a lot of mistakes and we also “lost” against a brilliant goalkeeper.

Do you see the team in the same form as last year at this point?

UZ: In my opinion we had a very good preparation phase and good form throughout the season.  We play very good defense, and we’re not bad on offense either.  Still, we’re missing some effectiveness.  What can you do when you’re not able to score from six meters?  What can you do as a team other than getting into good scoring positions?  We just need to find our shooting touch, that’s it.  Then we will be fine.

Do you consider winning the group an advantage, especially when looking at the knock-out stage?

UZ: To be honest it’s just important to finish in the first four spots.  We know who we might face, so for me it doesn’t really matter.  Sure, you will meet weaker clubs if you finish first.  And you also have more time to rest until the next game.  But we don’t think about it as a team.  We want to win every single game.  So it’s very simple, we have to win all four remaining games, especially at home.

You didn’t take part in the World championship, do you feel like your batteries are fully charged again?

UZ: That’s true, at the beginning of the year I had some days off and I really used them to rest.  But then I had to get back to Kielce and we started to prepare for the second part of the season.  If you want to achieve something big then you have to work hard.  But, as I always say, your mind is the most important thing and my mind was able to rest and relax.  I really hope that the second part of the season will be quite successful.

But I guess you watched the games of Slovenia…

UZ: Yes, of course I did!  It’s quite tough to sit at home on your sofa and watch the games instead of playing – really unbelievable.  It wasn’t easy for me, but my heart was with my team in France.  In the end I was extremely happy and proud of the guys.

What does it mean for the Slovenian handball?

UZ: First if all it’s a huge accomplishment.  In 2004 we were the second best team in Europe, so this is probably the biggest accomplishment in the history of Slovenian handball.  Now, we have to see if we can use the euphoria and play with the big teams consistently.  But I think the guys are on the right track.  In May we will play Germany twice and it will show how good the team really is.  But I’m quite optimistic.