There have been changes in the Hungarian team since the Olympic Games: assistant coach Vilmos Imre has been promoted head coach. "I needed weeks, maybe months to realise that the fourth place in Beijing was a success,” the new coach admits.
There have been changes in list of players too: Krisztina Pigniczki left Dunaferr for the French Issy Les Molineaux and she announced that she retires from the national tema.
Bernadett Ferling is pregnant and probably she will not return to the national team in the future. However, Vilmos Imre emphasised that for a player who performs on international level, age cannot be a problem.
The top scorer of Champions League, Hypo’s left back, Tímea Tóth played in Beijing in a poor physical condition. The coach will only count on her from January as she still needs time to get back to form.
Though the goalkeeper Katalin Pálinger also planned to skip the EURO, her team mates and coach Imre persuaded her to travel to FYR Macedonia.
The team took part at the World Cup in Denmark in October and though it was not a successful tournament, the coach at least gained some experience about the Hungarian and the other teams. The assistants of Imre are Eszter Mátéfi, Csaba Konkoly and the coach of the ”B National Team”, József Varga.
The B National Team have recently played a tournament in Bratislava. Three of the players, Anita Bulath, Anett Sopronyi and Viktória Csáki performed so well that they were awarded a place in the squad for the upcoming Pannon Cup.
This tournament will be played in Szombathely on 21-23 November. FYR Macedonia, Croatia and Austria will step on court there.
The young player, Zita Szucsánszki, was optimistic about the EURO chances:
"We have experienced and young players in the team. I believe that we will work well together at the Pannon Cup and at the EURO too. We are not the only team that play with a younger squad and we have seen this at the World Cup already. I expect the team to reach one of the first four places at the EURO, but I believe that we are able to take the final victory too.”
Hungary will start the EURO in Preliminary Group A with France, Denmark and Romania.
Hungary’s Pannon Cup squad:
Goalkeepers: Katalin Pálinger (Győri Audi ETO KC), Orsolya Herr (Győri Audi ETO KC), Melinda Pastrovics (DVSC-Aquaticum)
Field players: Orsolya Vérten (Győri Audi ETO KC), Melinda Vincze (Dunaferr NK), Gabriella Szűcs (CS Oltchim Rm. Vâlcea), Anita Bulath (RK Podravka Vegeta), Anita Görbicz (Győri Audi ETO KC), Zita Szucsánszki (Budapest Bank-FTC), Zsuzsanna Tomori (Győri Audi ETO KC), Ágnes Hornyák (Győri Audi ETO KC), Sopronyi Anett (Tajtavill-Nyíradony), Kovacsicz Mónika (Viborg HK), Bódi Bernadett (Randers HK), Viktória Csáki (DVSC-Aquaticum), Piroska Szamoránsky (Budapest Bank-FTC), Valéria Szabó (DVSC-Aquaticum), Barbara Balogh (Dunaferr NK)
Head coach: Vilmos Imre
Assistant coaches: Csaba Konkoly and Eszter Mátéfi
