We haven’t had a team in the club Champions League for a long time, we are far from the national team, regardless of the fact that we had quite solid names, and then what was said over the years happened – that Serbia needs a first foreign coach. And then came the Spaniard Antonio „Toni“ Gerona – France fell in Zrenjanin (27:24), with a draw in Crete (26:26) at the start qualification for EURO next year.
What happened? Serbia to overthrow the multiple champion of everything?
„I am satisfied with the results, although we deserved to beat France for the second time. I am especially pleased with the players’ game, their commitment, as well as everything they do. We have only been working for two weeks, it is a pity that we did not get together earlier,“ Gerona began.
Is it a coincidence a feat with the French „alams“, who were only without the injured Nikola Karabatic? Once maybe, twice – very difficult.
„I wouldn’t say this is all a coincidence. We’ve been preparing 100 percent since the first day of preparation and the players have put in a big, big, big effort. This group is outstanding, as one family, with a strong team spirit. Every player, whether young or old, he works in the service of the team „, says the selector of the“ Eagles „, and at the same time the coach of the French Chartres.
The Catalan, who built himself in the heart of that region of Barcelona, does not „fly“ among the clouds because of, hand on heart, the sensational result. In the West, it is different than in our country, where it is „black or white“.
„If someone had told me that we would win three points against France from two matches, I would have told him that it was very difficult. We want to watch only us, even though we knew we were playing against one of the biggest teams in the world, which won everything it could. „But I told the players before the match to do only the things we practiced. Just to be focused on themselves and stick to the plan. In the end, we were good, almost perfect.“
What was the problem with Serbia in previous years?
„I can’t talk about the Serbian national team in the past because I wasn’t there, I didn’t watch trainings or matches with so much attention. For me now it’s not a question of whether Serbia wakes up or not, just what we do now. We have many players outside Serbia, but „There are Jovica Nikolic, Vorkapic, Shotic. I am sure we will make a good mix. I hope that this result will have an impact on the entire Serbian handball.“
No one can dispute the talent.
„Serbia has talents. Since I arrived, this team has been working hard, analyzes are made every day and how to progress as soon as possible. We have to stay firmly on the ground. Now the World Cup is coming, we have to watch it on TV and fight for Serbia to follow.“ be there „.
„Serbia must always be in the second phase of the WC or EP“
Serbia is vying for EURO 2022 in Hungary and Slovakia, with a good chance of finishing first in the group and winning a more favorable draw at the tournament.
„We have to finish the job against Belgium and Greece, that means to finish first in the group. As it is known, the draw at the European Championship will be, not to say easy because there are no easy matches, but we can have a better path. Everyone from the handball world knows that there are many talents in Serbia, we just have to continue with the same work „, repeats Gerona that work, work and only work is why it is in Serbia.
However, a look at the table of qualification group 1 is inevitable …
„It’s crazy, but also nice. We work for it, no one gave us anything. People watched our matches with France … If you think about winning and a draw against such an opponent, it seems unrealistic. Now we enjoy it, but there are many things we have to do. let’s fix it „.
After France, you said that Serbia must go to great things. What are they?
„Serbia must always be in the second round of big competitions. After that, luck is needed … I hope that it will fight in that phase in the coming years.“
Gerona’s message for Serbs
Is that why it is perhaps more unfortunate that the EHF stupidly deprived Serbia of fighting for the World Cup with Slovenia? Let us remind you, the barrage has been abolished and in what day will the Slovenes play in Egypt just because they are better ranked at that moment.
„The decision was the same for the Final Four of the Champions League. It is not fair for the clubs, and it is the same for us. We wanted to play against Slovenia in June, but it was not possible. We have to accept that and turn to the European Championship.“ .
The Serbs slowly started to „raise their hands“ from handball, and then Gerona was given oxygen. Do you have a message for the fans in Serbia at the time when we moved from the „dead point“?
„My message is clear, I want them to support the national team and they never stop. Now it’s easy to be with the team, celebrate with the players, but I hope that even when there are no results they will be with us. The audience pushes you to make „Even if Cupara didn’t defend the Frenchman’s last shot and we lost, everyone must be proud of how the players fought. We can’t promise to win everything, but we will try to fight like against France.“
„I know everyone is looking at me …“
How does Gerona feel as the first foreign coach of the „Eagles“?
It is an honor and a great responsibility to be the coach of Serbia as the first foreigner. I know that Serbia has had top players and coaches throughout history and that my eyes will be on me, maybe there will be questions ‘What will a foreign coach do for us?’ But it does not touch me that, I just want to be focused on my job.If something goes wrong I will not understand because I do not know your language … Journalists and the public have their opinion, we need you (journalists prim. out) to promote sports, but we are here to we provide solutions „.
You discovered that your friends told you that you were crazy to accept Serbia’s invitation. First of all, because of the character and mental structure that rules in our country. What do they say after France?
„‘Are you sure you want Serbia after Tunisia? You know what character they have there, maybe even stranger than Tunisia. Are you crazy or what’ … They told me that, but … I said many times, I had I am lucky to work with Serbian players such as Perunicic, Skrbic, Peric, Stanic, Djordjic and I have always had a good relationship with them. I like your character, which still has to be pushed. Serbia must find a way to be a team , it doesn’t matter who plays and how much, but only the result in the end „.
We had to slowly bring this interesting conversation to an end in order to honor the agreement with the PR of the Handball Federation of Serbia, Zika Bogdanovic, the man who announced great things under the Spaniard, although we still had questions. We left them for the second time to Geroni and wished for a fight for medals, which made him laugh.
„A medal? For that, we will need to be together longer. But after these two results with France, all people believe that we can do something great. We are extra motivated,“ concluded Tony Djerona.
