Simon: Tomorrow I will carry the balls in the training as well

The Olympic group match against Brazil brought many good performances for the women’s handball national team, but maybe this time the team captain, who helped her teammates with ten saves, will not be offended Judge Blanka Bödealso excellent boarding after the break Debreceni-Klivinyi Kingaif after a short consideration Simon Petrat is chosen as the hero of the Hungarian victory, fitting for a thriller.

“Now!” – answered the 19-year-old manager of Ferencváros when we asked him if his shot into the upper right corner of the Brazilian goal was the most important moment of his career.

A tight-knit teen

Only those who have not followed women’s handball in the past year were surprised by Simon Petra’s incredible confidence and composure, especially considering his age. The Most Valuable Player (MVP) of last year’s Junior European Championship already said after the youth tournament that he is not the nervous type, which he then thoroughly confirmed among the adults as well: he scored seven goals in his first national team match and was a key player in the team that won the Olympic quota. There was no question that captain Golovin would find a place for Fradi’s young genius in his narrow frame.

“I wasn’t nervous when I played against the Brazilians. This was the plan from the beginning, that I would play in the second half, and I was not nervous about the possibility of defeat because I know the girls well.”I have not been among them for a long time, but we have already experienced difficult moments, and this forged us into such a team that we are able to fight for each other until the last moment” – said Simon to the MOL Team.

“The defeat against the French did not break us, but gave us confidence. We fought well all the way, we made it difficult for the title defenders, and we would have been fools to be sad because we couldn’t do a miracle,” recalled the manager, who made mistakes in the first match, but scored two goals anyway. Against Brazil, however, he played a decisive role in the fact that we not only overtook, but also overtook the extremely strong Brazilian team.

Simon Petra was our most successful player (Photo: MKSZ/Anikó Kovács)

“The matches come so quickly one after the other that anyone who gets stuck in a win or a loss pays a high price. We stored what we needed from the match against the French, and we have until midnight today to beat Brazil (the interview was done on Sunday – the author) is allowed to rejoice.

How can our fate be in the hands of a 19-year-old?

The junior of the women’s national team did not exactly have a smooth Olympic preparation, because the player’s high school graduation and his admission interfered. After the high school graduation, the news came that the top candidate for the “good student-good athlete” award had been admitted to the law faculty of ELTE. In her first Olympics, Petra faced the Brazilians with a three-goal deficit in the second half, becoming the team’s top scorer with five goals, and five seconds before the end won the game for us with a stunning shot.

“The action went pretty much where we planned” he said with a big smile. “It wasn’t exactly the game, I even stopped for a moment because the defender didn’t react the way I expected, but the idea was to shoot the ball from where we finally succeeded.”

The moments after the goal (photo: MKSZ/Anikó Kovács)

“Everyone is in the team because they fought for their place. Being a member of the national team is also an obligation, and we all try to live up to it. I am one of the young members of the team, but I can feel the leaders of the squad and the regular players as well, that they respect and trust me, and this gives me the confidence to face such situations as well.”In addition to that, of course, I will carry the balls in tomorrow’s training as well” he added with a laugh.

“I know my place in the rankings, I still have to prove myself in many similar matches to move up, but that’s not what I’m dealing with. Only the team matters, and after two games I feel that our hopes are well founded. Our preparation went well, we traveled to Paris with the intention of attacking anyone and trying to beat them. And beating Brazil brought a lot not only psychologically, but also in the standings.

We’re almost going to advance

One can only scratch one’s head at the women’s handball tournament, even though only two days of play have passed. The Norwegians are already over one defeat, but then they beat the Danes abominably, the Koreans caught the Germans, and in our group the Brazilians knocked the Spaniards into the ground, who were then also defeated by Angola. It is difficult to adjust between the balance of power, but it is certain that in the next round against Angola, the Hungarians can reach the threshold of advancing.

The Hungarians have already achieved a feat (photo: MKSZ/Anikó Kovács)

“A good part of their team plays in France, they are a very strong national team, so you have to go into the match with one hundred percent concentration. We also watch the other games, but we don’t do anyone the favor of looking too far ahead, we just focus on the next game.”

“The Angolans also performed very well against the Dutch, they were one goal behind at the break, and ended up losing by three. We can beat them, but we have to do our best, and if we succeed, the way to the best possible advancing position can be opened.”

The manager of Fradi did not experience many of the problems that some athletes indicated in relation to the Olympic village and the organization. But if you do, it doesn’t bother you too much either. “I love the Olympics! The atmosphere is incredible, this whole thing is an amazing experience. Now I understood what my teammates who had already been to the games were talking about. I want to enjoy every minute!” he added with a smile.