Vladimir Cupara: Bundesliga Has Brought Back My Love for Handball
Serbian international Vladimir Cupara opened a completely new chapter in his career this summer. After playing in Spain, Poland, Hungary and Romania, the 32-year-old goalkeeper moved to Germany and joined HBW Balingen-Weilstetten, finally getting his first taste of the Bundesliga – a competition often described as the “NBA of handball”.
In an interview with Balkan-Handball.com, Cupara spoke about his new life in Germany, a move that helped him rediscover his passion for handball, Balingen’s battle to stay in the league, the quality of Bundesliga goalkeepers, the title favourites and his plans for the future.
You have finally arrived in the Bundesliga, the “NBA of handball”, as we often call it. How does life look now and how much has this change affected you?
You said it perfectly – the NBA of handball. Literally. I am very happy to be here and to have the opportunity to be part of it. The league is incredible. We have not even completed a third of the season yet, but I have already experienced so many great things.
The Bundesliga speaks for itself. To be honest, throughout my career I somehow avoided it because I was a little intimidated by all the stories about having very little free time, difficult travelling, so many tough matches and practically no opportunity to relax during the season.
That is true, but on the other hand, I am sorry now that I did not come earlier. Maybe my career would have gone in a slightly different direction if I had accepted some good Bundesliga offers two, three or four years ago.
However, I am very happy to be in Balingen now.
It actually started with an idea from Nikola Marinović. Back in January, when we played Austria at the European Championship, we talked after the tournament. His idea was that if Balingen were promoted from the second division to the Bundesliga, I should come and join the club.
When they secured promotion, Nikola called me and said: “The club wants to bring you in now. Are you interested? Let’s make it happen.”
We agreed very quickly.
And what does your life away from the court look like?
We have been here for almost three months. More precisely, we live in Roßwangen, a village five or six minutes away from Balingen. It has around 800 inhabitants. We have a house, a garden, nature, fields, cows, sheep…
We live very nicely. Our neighbours are a little older, mostly people aged 75 and above, but everyone looks after us and helps us with everything.
This change has been very good for me. My wife and I actually planned it this way – we wanted to slow our lives down a little.
Before that we lived in Bucharest, and when we are in Serbia we are around Belgrade and Pančevo, where there are constantly lots of people, traffic and noise.
Here, in three months, I have not heard an ambulance or police siren once.
We have managed to stop and get away from that constant rush. Family and handball are now at the centre of everything. The three of us – my wife, my son and I – live much more peacefully, and that has had a very positive effect on me.
I am happy every time I go to training and every time I go to a match. That is what I wanted.
You said that this change has also brought back a special feeling towards handball?
I have completely returned to handball and to my love for the game. I have started feeling that excitement and satisfaction again whenever I think about handball.
How difficult was it to make that decision, especially knowing that some people could see the move as a step backwards?
It took me some time, but I reached a point where I simply could not continue in the same way.
Today, if I received an offer from a club playing in an easier league, I would have to think very carefully about it. I am almost certain I would turn it down.
The last two seasons were very difficult for me because I was playing matches where, even before leaving for the arena, I already knew that we were going to win.
It did not matter whether I made five, 15 or 20 saves – the team was going to win anyway.
I think it is much harder for many players to approach that kind of match than a game where you know you have to fight for victory, prove yourself and compete against both the opponent and yourself.
These three months and the start of the season in Balingen have brought back my real love for handball.
I enjoy the ball, I enjoy training. Thank God, I have come into an environment where the players arrive at every training session wanting to learn something, to win and to compete with each other and with themselves.
Your perspective has changed as well. You came from clubs that were used to winning almost all the time.
That was very interesting for me at the beginning.
After Ademar León, I played for Kielce, Veszprém and Bucharest. Those are teams that would perhaps lose a maximum of ten matches during an entire season. In one season with Veszprém we had only four or five defeats.
Now I am in a situation where, theoretically, we could lose ten matches in a row. That is the reality of the Bundesliga.
Still, we started the season very well. We have two wins in the German Cup and have moved closer to the final stages of the competition, while we have also started well in the Bundesliga.
We lost matches in which we were very close to taking points. Against Magdeburg we conceded practically in the final second. We lost to Stuttgart by one goal and had a shot to equalise. There were other games where we were completely competitive for a long time.
The team is playing at a very high level, both at home and away, against very strong opponents. That makes me feel great and I am very happy to be part of this team.
People often say that anyone can beat anyone in the Bundesliga. How true is that?
It is true and it is not.
You know which teams will probably be near the top and you roughly know which teams will be fighting at the bottom, but different things really can happen.
Every match has to be taken seriously. There is very little room to relax.
The packed arenas must also make a special impression.
Even during pre-season we saw what was waiting for us. We played around ten friendly matches and almost every arena was full.
These are people who come to live handball.
That is very important to me. This is my first season in the Bundesliga and I really want to be accepted well by the team and leave some kind of mark here.
We should be realistic – our main team objective this year is to stay in the Bundesliga.
Personally, it may not have been easy for me to accept such a goal because in previous years I was used to completely different ambitions, but I have accepted it. That is now my first goal as well.
Once we secure our Bundesliga status, we can set some new targets.
I believe that if we continue playing like this, we can achieve that goal, but the Bundesliga is extremely demanding and there are still many difficult matches ahead of us.
As a goalkeeper, you probably have an especially good view of just how much quality there is in the Bundesliga in that position.
Every team has good goalkeepers. Literally every team.
For example, our next opponent is Bergischer HC and they have Christopher Rudeck, a goalkeeper from my generation who has been there for years. For me, he is one of the better goalkeepers in the Bundesliga.
Against Hannover we also faced a very strong goalkeeping duo. Then you have Magdeburg with excellent goalkeepers, Kiel, Andreas Wolff…
Every team has a top goalkeeper.
I also have a very good colleague in Danilo Rebmann, who is an experienced Bundesliga goalkeeper.
When you look at the league as a whole, it is incredible how many quality goalkeepers are gathered in one competition. That is another thing that makes the Bundesliga special.
Who is your number one favourite to win the title?
I would stick with Magdeburg. I think they will be very strong again this season, regardless of the occasional slip-up.
But I would never write off Kiel or Berlin, especially Berlin. Although I do think they will miss Dejan Milosavljev and Lasse Andersson a lot.
For me, those three teams are at the very top.
I would also like to see Flensburg do something more. For the last three or four years, I have looked at their squad before every season and thought that they had strengthened really well.
I like them as a team and I would like to see them make that next step, but every season it seems as though something is still missing.
That is simply my view.
Where do you see yourself after Balingen? Do you want to stay in the Bundesliga?
Definitely.
If they want me, I will do everything I can to stay here for as long as possible.
Unless something completely unexpected happens, I think the most realistic scenario is that I remain part of a Bundesliga team in the future.
Why not Balingen?
Exactly.
From what I heard when I arrived, the club has plans to expand the arena and increase the budget.
I am also very happy with my cooperation with Nikola Marinović, so I really do not see any reason why I could not stay here.
When can we expect your first big interview in German?
Hopefully when they invite me!
We have been learning German from the first day since we arrived. Everyone in the team speaks German all the time.
That was the agreement between the coaches and the players from the beginning – everyone speaks German, and if I do not understand something, I ask.
So every day I am listening only to German.
My wife and I are already studying it seriously and we have a private teacher.
For me, that is another step forward and another way of leaving my comfort zone. At the age of 32, I am learning a new language.
I have already learned Spanish and English, and now I am starting all over again with another language.
But I am happy about it. I enjoy it and I think it is good for me personally as well – to use my brain and keep training it.
PHOTO: Angela Grewe
