Gábor Elek: I feel a hole in my heart because of the Champions League elimination

– What happened in the last two days? Did you celebrate the success?
– Of course, several times and thoroughly... – said Gábor Elek, head coach of Ferencváros, with a laugh. – We already celebrated right after the game, and then on Tuesday, we held celebration with the men's team; they deserved the party.

– What was your experience like at the cup final in Debrecen?
– If you look at our season and see what's been hitting us hard and sometimes what we've been hitting ourselves with, it's a great pleasure that we could win. In terms of the two series at home, we lost a total of three points, we lost in the league once, and we tied Siófok in the cup semifinals – this is a very good performance. It already turned out at last year's Olympics that we were going to have a troubled season, as both of our center backs, Anikó Kovacsics and Zita Szucsánszki, were also injured and were absent for the long term. They had to be replaced but falling into an almost established gaming system is a very difficult task for anyone – Itana Grbić suffered from this. And of course, this season did not pass without COVID either. It is safe to say that we built a team two or three times during the season...

– Overall, are you satisfied?
– I feel a hole in my heart because of the Champions League elimination in the playoffs, otherwise, everything else is fine. If someone told me last summer that we would end the league with a two-point loss and we would be cup winners, I would've agreed with it immediately. We got off to a great start in the Champions League and we did well for a long time, but then we had no luck with the realignment caused by the Russian-Ukrainian war, the suspension of Russian teams, and the player movements. Our opponent, Ljubljana, was able to strengthen its squad, nevertheless, we should've performed better.

– There was basically only one half that went wrong against Slovenia.
– Yes, and that's what our performance depended on.

– Let's talk more about Sunday's victory over ETO. In the first half of the cup final, your team was four goals behind when you asked for time out. What did you say to your players?
– I said that we shot ourselves in the leg, ETO was leading at the time because we made tactical mistakes. We did not play a subordinate role, the unfavorable result only came from our own blunders. I told the girls that if they believe in it, they can come back to the game. We managed to do that by half-time, and during the break, we were already talking about the need to store energy, to play smartly, because we cannot get out of the running race well against Győr.

– ETO defended very well and hard, especially at the beginning of the final, but we quickly managed to reach the same level. Was that the key to victory?
– There was hardly a performance on the pitch that should be talked about at length, except for Kinga Janurik, who defended sensationally. I must also add that it was not a blatantly weak performance either.

– How much risk did you take when you sent 17-year-old Petra Simon into the game as a center back in the first half?
– I told her on the morning of the game that she will not be taken seriously, the opponent doesn't know her, and she isn't in the opponent's tactical plan because they wouldn't think I'd dare send her on the court anyway. I explained to her that if she plays bravely in the beginning, she will gain enough confidence for the later ones as well. Petra had a good weekend, she won the cup with the adult team on Sunday, and on Saturday, she also won a gold medal in the junior league – though she was with us in Debrecen, so she could not play in that match.

– A lot of players have been under your guidance in the past. What would you say about Simon Petra's future?
– I would like to use my words wisely because there have been many mistakes in Hungarian handball in recent years – we also gave a lifetime achievement award to mayflies... Simon Petra is incredibly talented, she has three main virtues: her mentality, her wit, and that she is not afraid of anything.

– You shook hands with Ambros Martín, the master of ETO, on several occasions. Have you ended your memorable quarrel?
– Personally, yes. You don't have to make a big deal out of it, unfortunately, it happens on the court. I am very sorry about what happened, but it is not unique in the world of sports. This was the first time that we've met since then, of course, we shook hands, and I hope this story is really over.

– How ready is the next season's team?
– Of course, there are still question marks, but I can't talk about them yet.

– Do you have any idea what your goal will be for the new season in the fall?
– I don't think about the future at the moment. I'd like to relax; the last two years have been super long. I was in a special situation, as it was an honor and joy to be there with the national team at the Tokyo Olympics, but I had no rest.

– How much time do you have to recharge yourself?
– Compared to previous years, it is unrealistically a lot. But I really need that because I've never felt so tired in my coaching career as I do now.

Translated by: Vanda Orosz.