The handball players of VZV have now returned to the Netherlands after their European Cup matches in Spain. Yesterday afternoon, the North Holland team lost 35-17 to Atletico Guardes. Saturday was also lost 37-22. ”The opponent was just better and rightly through, but it was a great adventure”, says goalkeeper Lisanne Bakker.
The elimination did not come as a surprise to the handball players themselves. “In Spain they have really good teams. You hope for a stunt, but that was really not possible this weekend. They just play a few paces faster,” Bakker continues.
Despite the big difference in strength and the justified defeat, the selection did enjoy the adventure. “It’s wonderful to go away for a weekend together. That doesn’t happen that often during a season. The atmosphere in the hall in Spain was also really great. We were welcomed on the field with fireworks. We’ve never experienced that before. It was really very different from what we are used to in the Netherlands”, says Bakker.
Ninth place
Things are not going smoothly for the handball players in the Dutch premier league either. The team from ‘t Veld can be found in ninth place with six points. “We didn’t start the competition well. We lost the first four games. I do feel that we are getting better and better and are going to get more points. These kinds of European trips also help to come out stronger, because you always learn from this.”
The handball players will pick up the thread again on Wednesday. Then they start training for the match against SEW that will be played the next day.