Captain Chema is not ready to say goodbye just yet

“You just have to win the first game,” he concluded Chema Rodriguez after the opening match of the men’s handball European championship qualifiers. Our team – in a very reserve composition – dominated the match throughout, even if they did not play perfectly, they actually beat Slovakia with confidence.

“One would think that a Spanish-Italian match would be an even match, but Spain could only win with a goal scored in the last minute, and in our group, Montenegro was able to beat Finland with a single goal. It’s not just a slogan, it’s a fact: there are no easy matches in Europe,” the captain told the MOL Team.

It would be better to beat everyone with twenty

The first match of an Olympic cycle is always exciting, and it often happens that the captains immediately start experimenting, invite new faces, or say goodbye to regular players. It is no coincidence that many matches that were thought to be easy were close in the first round of the European Championship qualifiers.

“The game was what it was. We made it a little difficult for ourselves, but I was very happy with the performance of the newcomers and those who played less before,” said Chema, who did not count on the backbone of our Olympic team, Lékai, Bánhidi, Mikler and Ilic, in the opening match against the Slovaks.

“We have the basic game, and it was important for me to see that the new faces also understand how we want to play handball. This is the most important part of a smooth transition, as everyone can have better and worse games, but everyone who plays in the national team must be able to fit into the system. “From this point of view, I can be satisfied,” explained Chema, who tried out new players against Slovakia in the goal, linebacker and shooting positions.

“There really isn’t a big European handball nation in our group, but I reject the idea that our group is weak. Excellent coaches already work for almost every European team, who put together teams that are dangerous for anyone.”

We fought for victory with Slovakia (photo: MKSZ/Anikó Kovács)

“Believe me, no one would like it more than me if we had a really weak group and we would win every game by twenty goals, because then we could really experiment with playing only young people, but that is no longer the case in today’s handball,” said the captain with a laugh. .

He’s not ready to say goodbye

Before and after the Olympics, several players, including Roland Mikler and Máté Lékai, hinted that they would retire from the national team, and although no announcement has been made yet, it can almost certainly be stated that the Spanish professional will no longer be able to count on his two former teammates at the next Olympics. But can they take part in fighting for the quota?

Mikler defends in excellent form in the autumn in Szeged (photo: MKSZ/Anikó Kovács)

“For my part, I’m not ready to say goodbye to the boys yet,” said Chema with a broad smile. “My task is to always send the best possible Hungarian national team to the field, and to prepare the best squad for each tournament, and whoever says that Mikler and Lékai are not included in this is seriously underestimating the role of the two champions in the team, in the dressing room, in difficult moments.”

“But I understand the question and I don’t want to avoid it, because as you can see, I want to expand the national team. I watch a lot of games, I keep my eye on several players, and whoever performs well can be sure that he will get the opportunity to prove himself.“Los Angeles is still far away, we have a long and hard road ahead of us if we want to be there at the next games, and my selection system can be summarized quite simply: whoever brings us closer to our goal will be on the team,” he stated.

There is a great need for a routine for the elderly (photo: MKSZ/Anikó Kovács)

“We have an official list of 35 people, but in my head I prefer a list of 50, among which there are those who are still very young, but can become decisive players in a few years.”It is obligatory for me to think in this way, since the association has honored me with its trust in me to lead a long-term project, and meanwhile we know very well that yesterday’s successes will not matter tomorrow.”

The national team will play the next match in Finland, and the next big task awaits us in January. We also asked Chema if it is possible that the pressure to reshape the team at the world championships jointly organized by Croatia-Denmark-Norway, which will not qualify anywhere, overrides the pressure to achieve results.

According to Chema, the generational change cannot come at the expense of results (photo: MKSZ/Anikó Kovács)

“No, and you will never hear from me that the result doesn’t matter,” the captain concluded the question briefly. “We go to every match wanting to defeat the opponent, and even travel to every tournament wanting to win. Maybe there are better teams than us, but it should never happen that someone wants to win more than us.”

“It’s not an easy time ahead of us, as we have to solve a minor generational change in such a way that the results cannot drop in the meantime, since we have to obtain the Los Angeles quota. “But we like difficult tasks, because that’s when we can really show what a good team we are,” said Chema proudly.