"For me the success of the team is more important than the top scorer title!"

 On Thursday, on the day off of the Women's European Championships', the MKB-MVM Veszprém, who currently plays only in international championships, plays its last match of this year. The SEHA League match against the Serbian Vojvodina won't be very exciting, as in August the Veszprém has already managed to beat this team (32:19). If the team of Carlos Ortega can get over this obstacle and they can say goodbye the Veszprém Arena until February as a winning team, the "Építők" with 7 CL and 12 SEHA League wins can start the New Year with an overall performance of 95 %.

 

The Serbian Momir Ilics, top scorer in the CL, had a great part in this success, but he still says modestly that he is only a part of the machinery. The left back who gave an interview to the Telekom Sport News - scores 103 goals in the season of 2013/2014 - currently has 58 goals and with this he is standing at the second place of the scorers list after the Macedonian Kiril Lazarov (64 goals), who currently plays in Barcelona but before he also played in Veszprém.

 

 

"I would be happier if the MKB-MVM Veszprém could play at least a final game in the Champions League, or would win the cup, as about the repetition in 2015. For me, the success of the team means more than the top scorer title, which is not even due to a single player, because to score goals good starts, passes and tricky solutions are needed. So team work is very important. It is good to play in the Veszprém team. After the 7 years I have spent in Germany I got to the best place possible. We won our matches in autumn and winter without our key-players, as 3 or 4 of them were always missing. Only the really good coaches can reassemble the team right and choose the appropriate tactics by maintaining the efficiency."

 

On the last match of the CL this year, as the Hungarian champion team has lost for the first time, the Spanish coaches and the players also couldn't solve the situation. The consequence of this was the heavy seven-goal defeat, from which a conclusion could be drawn that the MKB-MVM Veszprém is not an invulnerable team.

 

 

"Our performance in Mannheim was terrible. I have to say that we made series of mistakes and the Löwen used all chances. So they won, because we gave them a series of good opportunities to score goals. It was an instructive lesson for us, but it was not a catastrophic failure. If we could play the match again, the result would be different for sure."

Momir Ilic thinks that his team is considerably stronger and prepared than the THW Kiel (CL-winner twice), with that he has signed a contract for three years last year. He speaks out bravely that next year the Veszprém will get again in the Final Four of the Champions League and will be even better than last time (as they were on the fourth place).

 

"Due to our strong rivals in the SEHA League we became more experienced and more combative. This year between the final match of the Hungarian Championship and the Final Four in Köln there was two weeks, on those we just trained. That's why we got a little "out" of the game. Next year will be different."

 

 

Ilic "the jackpot of Veszprém" is very lucky, because he hasn't been injured long time ago and on matches he always fights until the end. So it is easy to understand that he - who has scored 119 so far and is a good 7-Meter thrower - is looking forward to his winter holiday.

 

"After the match on Thursday I will travel back to Serbia as soon as possible and on the 22th of December I will celebrate my 33rd birthday with my family. I also look forward to take my wife to Dubai what I promised her to do long time ago. I want to spend there a couple of happy days together with Maja. After when we go back to Veszprém the trainings will start again." - said Ilic, who wants to celebrate his third CL victory with the Hungarian champion team.

 

Telekom Sport News - Péter Szalay

 

 

Photos: Zsolt Melczer