Goran Kurtes: „Romania is my second home!“. How the Serbian expert arrived at SCM Rm Valcea after two periods in which he was the First Coach in the Romanian teams.
Zoran Kurtes (53 years old) arrived at SCM Rm Valcea at the beginning of the season, he was brought by the First Coach Florentin Pera. „We met at a seminar for master coaches in Kragujevac. I have stayed in touch since then. When he invited me to help him, I was very excited,“ says Goran. He was not a „foreigner“ of Romania until he came to Rome. Valcea. He coached two more teams in the National League.
Goran Kurtes first arrived in Romania in 2009, at T. Constanta. „My brother Zoran coached the HCM champion Constant and recommended me. Dumitru Musi left the team and I came. I stayed for six months. I had good results, but I got fired, leaving the team in 5th place.“ He still remembers the names of some of the players he worked with. „We had a very united team, there was a very good atmosphere, with Piriianu, Drutu, Zamfir,“ Kurtes pointed out.
He went home to Novi Sad, but shortly afterwards came the shocking news that his brother had passed away. „People from the club called me. I got in the car with Zoran’s wife and came to Constanta. It was very difficult. We were very close, we got along great. Zoran was three years older than me,“ Goran explains.
Goran Kurtes, the coach who achieved unique results in Romania, at that time, the HCM Constant qualifiers in the round of 16 of the Champions League, was watching a basketball game when he found his tragic end! Along with Kurtes, Pedja Klasovici, a former Steaua basketball player, was in the hotel room. Kurtes’ death was so quick that his friend didn’t even realize it at first!
Goran Kurtes returned to Romania. „CSM Ploiesti gave me an offer. They started the championship badly and broke the contract with George Covaciu. I came, I finished in 8th place in the season, I caught the playoffs. They told me to extend the contract, that they were satisfied, but then I don’t know why they changed their minds. Neven Hrupec, a coach from Braila, has taken my place from now on, „Goran Kurtes continued.
Kurtes speaks excellent Romanian, he learned after his first engagement in Romania. „I was alone in Constanta, and then in Ploiesti. I had nothing to do. I learned on my own, word for word. Your grammar is difficult, I don’t know how, I combine verbs,“ Goran admits. But he is progressing day by day, especially since he has many friends. „I also have friends in Constanta, but now also in Rm. Valcei. We all speak Romanian and that helps me a lot,“ explains the Serb.
Goran Kurtes is alone in r. Valcea, his wife and two children stayed in Serbia, in Novi Sad. „It is very difficult with the pandemic during this period. They could not even visit me,“ says Goran. His son Nikola is 24 years old and also plays handball. The girl, Nevena (13 years old), inherits her father’s gene. „But she didn’t like handball. I took her to handball, but she wanted football. She plays football and reached the junior national team of Serbia.“ Goran is proud. He is waiting for this period of the pandemic to pass in order to bring his little girl to Rome. Valcea. „It is a very beautiful, peaceful city, honestly, I would move here without any problems,“ concludes Goran.
Goran Kurtes is very disappointed with the results recorded on Saturday in the first round of the eighth finals of the Champions League, 24-33 with CSM Bucharest. „We made a lot of mistakes, their goalkeeper made a difference. We hurried and in the end, instead of finishing the game with four or five goals, we finished with nine. Now it is difficult to qualify, impossible. But we will fight CSM Bucharest until the end. We are also trying to get them into trouble in the championship, even though they have the best team „, concluded Goran.
