Pelekidis: “We managed the rhythm perfectly”

Dimitris Pelekidis emphasized that the PAOK handball players perfectly managed the pace against Spono and reached +8 and against a good team, so concentration will be needed, he was satisfied with how his players ran on both sides of the field and asked for rest against an experienced team that has more marches under its feet.

In detail: “We took a first step. The first leg was just the first half, as the second leg is on Sunday. So, in our mind was to manage the tempo because we didn’t know how the match would go. We did it in the best possible way. We got a difference. It doesn’t give us anything, but we have an advantage for Sunday’s game which will be completely different.

We are facing a team that played in the European League in previous years. Yes, they are young, but they do some things very well on the field. Therefore, if you are not focused on the plan, you may find yourself in for a surprise. The girls did their best on both sides of the court, especially in a match where the teams are on the run. It is not a Greek league, it is important to get the victories and, of course, to qualify on Sunday.

We will rest, we will do our analysis and we will go to keep the gap, but also to claim the victory again. The Swiss team has already played six games, so we had material to look at and analyse. We worked on the elements they have, we set up a plan that worked today, but the most important thing is concentration and will, and the players showed it today.”

Gogo Koulouri added: “It was a demanding game from the beginning. We showed our character as a team. We were focused from the first minute. We corrected mistakes we made in the first half and in the second half with defensive contacts. This gave us balls and psychology to have better options in attack.

We want to rest as much as we can and come tomorrow to have the same response in the game, maybe even better and to get the qualification and, why not, the victory. Because there will be fatigue, we must be completely focused and try to impose our own pace and not fall into the opponents’ trap and make mistakes. Let us actually control the game and not the opposing team”.