PPD Zagreb far from underestimating Metalurg despite of the favorite role
ППД Загреб е фаворит, но не го потценува Металург
Croatian champions will open the second part of SEHA Gazprom season with a trip to Skopje where they will on Wednesday (17.45 CET) play Metalurg. Croatian champions are big favorites in this one after a dominant 29:20 win in their first clash of the season. Metalurg are, however, traditionally much better at home, they will have no pressure and will be able to deliver a good performance.
PPD Zagreb are on the other side aware no one has easy time playing in Skopje and they will not underestimate hosts although they are given favorite role ahead of this one. Underestimating mentality might easily prove to be costly.
Lino Cervar, Metalurg coach:
We'll play against PPD Zagreb and they are favorites in this one. Our goal is to deliver a good performance unlike in Hungary. We respect our opponents, know a lot about their quality, star-players like Sebetic, Mandalinic, Igor Vori, brothers Valcic... We hope to get support from our fans in this one. Gugleta is still dealing with a shoulder injury and Nemanja Mladenovic is on the other side slowly finding his place in the roster yet again. We are focused on this match, know they usually play 6-0 or 5-1 defense. We'll try to break their rhytm with Kuzmanovski in our defense.
Stefan Drogriski, Metalurg player:
We were not very pleased with our match in Veszprem. We've done analysis and we're now working on making things function better. Naive mistakes are something we'll have to avoid in a match against Zagreb which is clear favorite in this one. We want to prove our quality so this is a big test for us.
Silvio Ivandija, PPD Zagreb coach:
We'll play against well-known rival. Current situation on the table does not reflect the true value because they were dominantly defeated in only two matches this season. We've showed some weaknesses playing away from home. I expect us to deliver a good performance and hopefully reach a positive result. We're experiencing certain injury problems with both Jotic and Sebetic most probably ending up sidelined for this one.
Stipe Mandalinic, PPD Zagreb player:
I think we are ready for the match against Metalurg. We’ve already watched quite a lot of their matches, analyzed them well and we're to ready travel to Skopje. We are aware of the importance of this match - we have to win and in order to improve our chances of achieving that we must not underestimate Metalurg.
PPD Zagreb are on the other side aware no one has easy time playing in Skopje and they will not underestimate hosts although they are given favorite role ahead of this one. Underestimating mentality might easily prove to be costly.
Lino Cervar, Metalurg coach:
We'll play against PPD Zagreb and they are favorites in this one. Our goal is to deliver a good performance unlike in Hungary. We respect our opponents, know a lot about their quality, star-players like Sebetic, Mandalinic, Igor Vori, brothers Valcic... We hope to get support from our fans in this one. Gugleta is still dealing with a shoulder injury and Nemanja Mladenovic is on the other side slowly finding his place in the roster yet again. We are focused on this match, know they usually play 6-0 or 5-1 defense. We'll try to break their rhytm with Kuzmanovski in our defense.
Stefan Drogriski, Metalurg player:
We were not very pleased with our match in Veszprem. We've done analysis and we're now working on making things function better. Naive mistakes are something we'll have to avoid in a match against Zagreb which is clear favorite in this one. We want to prove our quality so this is a big test for us.
Silvio Ivandija, PPD Zagreb coach:
We'll play against well-known rival. Current situation on the table does not reflect the true value because they were dominantly defeated in only two matches this season. We've showed some weaknesses playing away from home. I expect us to deliver a good performance and hopefully reach a positive result. We're experiencing certain injury problems with both Jotic and Sebetic most probably ending up sidelined for this one.
Stipe Mandalinic, PPD Zagreb player:
I think we are ready for the match against Metalurg. We’ve already watched quite a lot of their matches, analyzed them well and we're to ready travel to Skopje. We are aware of the importance of this match - we have to win and in order to improve our chances of achieving that we must not underestimate Metalurg.