For the third time in a row, the Slovenian national team will participate in the European Championship for ladies, which will start on December 3 in Denmark. The Slovenians will play the group stage matches in Herning, first against the host Denmark (December 4), then against the defender of the French throne (December 6), and then against Montenegro (December 8).
At the previous two continental championships, Slovenia took 13th and 14th place, so that the passage to the next phase in the mentioned competition would be an extraordinary success.
The selector Uroš Bregar and his associates are preparing the national team in Laško, where they will stay in the „bubble“ until December 2, when they will travel to the north of Europe. As far as the playing staff is concerned, the biggest problem is that Aneja Beganović is in quarantine due to a positive result for coronavirus.
-Aneja is our best circular striker and her absence is a big problem. We don’t know exactly when she became infected and how much longer she will be in quarantine. We only know that she picked up the virus in Koprivnica, where many Podravka players were infected. When he gets a negative result, he will join the national team. We can’t change anything, but we hope that she will join us in the second round at the latest, in which we want to qualify – said the selector Bregar in an interview for rtvslo.si.
Slovenia will have to surprise a favorite in order to be in the second round…
-Although all three rivals on paper are favorites against us, we will look for a way to win in every match. I am very glad that we qualified for the third consecutive European Championship. Given that we have a limited player base, it is a great success. It is essential to become more competitive with the best teams. We want and can pass the group, in the past we have shown that we can defeat the strongest teams like France, Russia and the Netherlands. But even if we fail, it will not be a disaster. Our absolute focus is on the European Championship in 2022, which will be held in Slovenia, I believe that then our national team will be at its peak. I received guarantees from the players who are now justifiably absent that they will be available then.
Do you already know who will make the starting seven?
-Handball is a dynamic sport, rotations are possible at any time. Certainly, Gros, Lazović, Omoregie, Zulić and Stanko are the dominant handball players on whom our result will largely depend. Gross and Lazovic are in good shape, Omoregie in slightly weaker. Tjaša Stanko plays in one position in the club, and in another in the national team. My job is to fit it all into a good whole, and to raise the form of the national team. We have a lot of work, we want to prepare the best we can for this short time.
Who are the biggest favorites in the championship?
– Considering that Vyahireva and Mikhalichenko will not play, I think that Russia will fall out of the narrowest circle of favorites. France has a mix of young and experienced players, they did not shine at the previous World Cup, but I believe that now they can return to the top. World champion The Netherlands has a big handicap in the form of not playing Estevana Polman: I believe that Germany, Norway and Denmark will be strong. I think that the medals will be distributed in the circle of national teams that I mentioned – the young expert predicts.
