Hypo far from top form

The Hungarian coach of the Austrian top team talks to Eurohandball.com after defeating Larvik in the semi-final.

Eurohandball.com: What can be expected this season from a team that reached the CL final a few months ago?

András Németh: The expectation from Hypo is always winning the Champions League. It was the same last year, but there will be many candidates again: 2 or 3 Danish teams, the Russians, Győr and so on...

Eurohandball.com: And what is the main objective for you?

András Németh: I would like to stay in the competition until the end. The most important task today is to get the engine running again. The team fell apart during the Olympics and it is difficult for us. We did not have much time yet.

On the other hand, this was not different a year ago. Back then I was new and we had to build a team. Now we have a complete team, we just have to work on the physical condition now.

Eurohandball.com: How did you prepare for the season so far?

András Németh: We had seven players in Beijing, the other seven were training with us. We had many trainings together with the Hungarian team, Vác.

This season, we will not play Austrian league games. The regional league where we will play is a higher level and it will help us better.

Eurohandball.com: Regarding the Olympic Games, do you think we have seen a new kind of modern handball there – especially from Norway? Is this the road to follow?

András Németh: Personally, I feel that this is exaggerated. Of course, we can improve our game, but we have to do it continually during the season.

Norway is in the elite of women’s handball and they have played very well. I think it always depends on the quality of the preparations what a team can reach at a given tournament.

Eurohandball.com: And what can you reach in the final against Zvezda?

András Németh: We had little time to prepare. Whether I will be satisfied at the end or not, it will depend on the way we played.