Pancevo ready for a handball spectacle as Vardar come to visit
The stage in Pancevo is set for a real handball spectacle with reigning both European and SEHA - Gazprom League champions Vardar Skopje coming to visit. Amazing chance for fans in Streliste sports hall to see one of the best teams in Europe in action against their guys who have, so far this season, managed to deliver a few quality outings against favored opponents.
‘Red&Black’ have already secured a Final Four position and Dinamo are on the other side still fighting to avoid finishing the regular part of the season on the bottom of the standings.
Match is scheduled for Tuesday (17.15 CET) and will be broadcasted on ehf TV, MRT (Macedonia), Sport TV (Slovenia) and Arena Sport channels.
Ivan Petkovic, Dinamo coach:
Is there are bigger honor for a city and a club than to host reigning EHF Champions League title holders? I believe we earned this match with all the hard work and commitment we put in and I’d like to invite all the fans to come and share this moment with us. Vardar are of course absolute favorites in this one but what makes me happy is that we’ll have both Radanovic and Jelic on disposal in this one. We’ll try to deliver as much good minutes as possible of course against a team which has 20 national team players in its roster. As a coach I can only guarantee fighting spirit and not only tomorrow but in all the matches to come until the end of the season as well.
Veselin Jelic, Dinamo player:
We’ll have a chance to play against European champions and it will be a big moment for each of my teammates including myself. There is not much to say really, we all know what Vardar is in handball nowadays. We’ll try to deliver best possible performance, fight for every possession and see what it brings us. Regardless of our chances we’d like to play our best handball on Tuesday.
Raul Gonzalez, Vardar coach:
Champions League group stage is in the books now and it is time to turn towards SEHA challenges. Despite of the fact we’ve already secured regular season top spot we’d like to keep up with good performances. We know Dinamo have a good team and are able to deliver quality performances, especially in Pancevo. We respect them, they’ll surely be highly motivated but we’ll go for the victory on Tuesday despite of the fact that fatigue is catching up on some of our players due to a really tough schedule we’re dealing with.
Janja Vojvodic, Vardar player:
Match against Dinamo does not have a significant meaning for us and in such occasions it can be harder to find the right motivation. However, it feels like we’ve slowed down a bit this last month which is visible on our latest results as well and I feel like we need to use matches ahead of us in SEHA League to improve form for what’s waiting for us in Champions League quarter-finals. Of course, we’d also like to close SEHA regular season undefeated.