The 9th European Handball Championship in FYR Macedonia is a turning point in the career of Vilmos Imre. The former first division player has been coaching since 1991; his first success came in 1998 when he led the U16 and U18 men´s national team to victory and three championship titles. Since 2007, Imre has coached the first division women´s team Dunaferr NK, prior to this he spent thirteen years with the men´s first division club Dunaferr SE.  In September 2008, Imre was named head coach of the Hungarian women´s national team. After obtaining fourth place at the Olympic Games in Beijing, Imre hopes to take another European Championship medal back to Hungary.

Coach comments

”With the 9th Women´s European Championship captivating the attention of handball fans across the globe, Vilmos Imre shares his expectations of his team and the competition: ”Our goal at Euro 2008 is to keep our position in the top teams of Europe (1-6 places) and our long term is goal is to build a good team till London 2012, involving more and more young talents.”

Vérten has been playing handball for a long as she can remember. Having carved her position in the left wing; Orsolya made her international debut in 2002 playing against Croatia in a match that Hungary eventually won. Over the past years, participating in the European Cup and winning various national championships. During the season, Orsolya can be found playing with the other talents of Gyõri Audi ETO KC. One of the highlights of Vérten's handball career so far was taking part in the 2008 OG. Although Hungary ranked 4th, Orsolya would like another chance to attain an Olympic medal.

The playmaker, Anita Görbicz, a staid fixture at Györi Audi ETO KC has been on the international scene since 2002. With over 130 appearances in her national colours and over 500 goals for Hungary, Görbicz is back at the 9th European Championship. Having already collected one silver and two bronze medals over the course of her professional international career, Anita aims to add gold! Not only has she received accolades for her teamwork, Görbicz is a handball force to be reckoned with as she has been named World Handball player of the year in 2005 and for the past three years running, she has been player of the year. The question is what will EURO 2008 bring?

The Hungarian fans were relieved to hear the news: Katalin Pálinger will continue in the national team and she will take part at the EURO 2008. No surprise: the Gyõri ETO player is unquestionably among the very best goalkeepers in the world. It would be difficult to list her successes - including Olympic and World Championship silver medals -, but we have to remember that she was member of the EURO winning Hungarian team in 2000. Back then, at the age of 22, she was not yet the first choice goalkeeper and this will surely boost her motivation to give her best for Hungary once again.