Fruitful weekend for Pick Szeged

TEXT:Gábor Várkonyi, Péter Butty

Füchse? Montpellier? No! The answer is Pick Szeged!!! Despite all previous speculations the Hungarian team fulfilled their supporters’ wildest dreams and won the Final4 of the EHF Cup in Berlin yesterday!

Szeged played very well on both days. Their patience, tactics and superb defense paid off and made their opponents suffer. They were leading by several goals for the most part in both matches. In the end they won the second biggest handball title in a surprisingly confident way.

Coach Pastor had great expectations when he started his new job in Szeged last summer, his first workplace abroad after 18 years in Valladolid. His first duty was very tough: to play against Metalurg Skopje in the Wild Card matches of the CL. This was too big a task as Skopje trained by Lino Cervar easily got past Pick. Champions League was no more an option but ‘The Mister’ now had time to implement ‘Pastor-system’ for which he needed at least 6 months to function.

Autumn was more or less without any real challenge in the domestic championship. Defeating Veszprém was the only real success. EHF Cup group matches only started in February. Szeged won the first four matches and were leading the group. This was followed by a match in Nantes, which they lost by 8 goals and chances of winning the group seemed to fade. But thanks to Presov, who beat Nantes in the final round, Szeged finished first and were ready to face Sporting for the F4. Pick got past the Portugals and could start planning their trip to Berlin.

Things weren’t that bright in the domestic league however. After only being defeated by 3 goals in Veszprém, Pick lost both the Hungarian Cup final and the Championship in painfully one-sided matches.

Their teamplay hadn’t worked since the match against Veszprém in March. It seemed that the Pastor-system was not working properly and even the most hardcore supporters were not convinced that their team would be able to defeat Füchse in Berlin.

Fortunately for them Pick managed to contradict the odds. Mikler was brilliant, Ilyés hadn’t played so effectively for years before, Balogh was so dangerous in the semi-final that Montpellier coach Canayer sent out a player only against him. Zubai, the great fighter produced class pivot play, Larholm’s hand didn’t shake at the penalties and Mindegia’s playmaking was pure pleasure to watch. They were patient in attack and completely utilized the players’ abilities. But the biggest hit was Pick’s defense. Absolutely world-class! The stars of Füchse and Montpellier were helpless against Szeged’s wall. If it was coach Pastor’s intention to play in top form at this point of the season then he did an excellent job. And the friendly German public gave a standing ovation to the cupwinners.

It was history in the making for Pick Szeged as they won their first ever international trophy by ‘bringing down the Berlin Wall’! This year has been tremendous so far for Hungarian handball. After Győr’s second CL title Pick also won their Final4. The circle can be completed in two weeks’ time when Veszprém play in Cologne.