Imre Bence: The success of the girls strongly motivates us as well

After the women’s national team, which was chosen as the team of the year and won the bronze medal in the European Championship, it is the men’s turn to continue the great series of Hungarian handball. The World Cup is starting, which is not a qualifying event, but the main event of the year, and several factors suggest that Chema Rodriguez’s national team may enter the path of Vladimir Golovin’s team.

“We are very motivated by the success of the girls, it was great to see them at the European Championships! “We are also on a good track, we had a great performance at last year’s European Championship, we made it to the Olympics, where we did well, so we are also expected to play well at the World Championship,” said the young winger of THW Kiel. Imre Bence before the start of the World Cup.

The Hungarian team has changed little

At the beginning of the Olympic cycle, the national teams usually change in many places, as every national team captain wants to sharpen his best possible team for the next games. Captain Chema Rodriguez is not one of them, Máté Ónodi-Jánoskúti is the only quasi-newcomer in the Hungarian team.

“I think that the ratio of routine and young players in the national team is perfect, moreover, the members of my generation already have a European Championship, an Olympics and strong club seasons behind us, we have become more mature and we hope that we can help the team more and more.”And it is clearly to our advantage that we have changed little” – said the winger, who became the player of the year in Hungary in 2024.

In the past year, the Hungarian national team has thoroughly confirmed Imre’s words, after taking a dazzling 5th place at the European Championships, and in a cathartic battle in Tatabánya, they won the Olympic quota, and in Paris, squeezing the host, they lost in a big fight in a one-on-one match.

Hungarian handball is taking off (photo: MKSZ/Anikó Kovács)

“We set the bar high, but that’s okay! We achieved good results, but we cannot think that this guarantees anything, because we have to prove ourselves in an extremely balanced field, we have to prove ourselves against all kinds of handball culture, but we like such challenges. We’ve seen it, we know that we can catch the best, but for that we have to put everything on the field. This is only possible if the concentration is perfect.”

Good group, achievable branch

Our team will meet the teams of North Macedonia, the Netherlands and Guinea in the group stage, advancing is not a question, and it would be good to take the maximum number of points to the next round, where there will be three opponents from the French-Austrian-Kuwaiti-Qatari quartet. If only one of them overtakes us, we are in the quarter-finals, which is also the official expectation of the association.

“It is true that there is only one directly elite team in this division – and we thoroughly beat the French at home in Paris – but we will meet a lot of dangerous teams. Starting with North Macedonia, for which all the players play at home, so they practically train together all year round, which can be an incredible advantage.”

The Hungarian team is united (photo: MKSZ/Anikó Kovács)

“The first match is very important anyway, it can start a person in a tournament if the start gives the momentum. I feel that we are capable of participating in the same way as at the European Championships, we just need to improve on one thing.”

“It has become our habit to catch an elite team at every major tournament, now we should increase this number” – said cheerfully the player who performed well in the Bundesliga.

We really need the help of the stand!

The bronze medalist women’s national team had a serious advantage over the boys: the Golovins made it to the top four in front of the frenzied audience in Debrecen, while the Chemás have to deliver their feats in Croatia. But Varasd, where we play our group and semi-final matches, is a stone’s throw away from the border.

The audience also needs support at the event (photo: MKSZ/Anikó Kovács)

“It’s a pity that the first two matches are on weekdays, many people certainly cannot afford to take time off, especially after the holidays, but we trust that we will hear from our fans. Especially at the weekend, when we have our biggest rally in the group.”

“The support of our audience means a lot to us. We could not have won in Munich or against Iceland without them, but the Olympic qualifier against the Portuguese will not soon be forgotten by those who were there in Tatabánya.” – recalled Imre’s two most important victories of the past year.

“We have done the work, we are already in focus, and we know that the country is watching us. We want to be worthy of attention, we want to present joyful moments to our fans.”