Našice welcoming silver and bronze medallists
Našice će čestitati srebrnima i brončanima
NEXE will on Saturday (19.00 CET) host Vardar. It will be the first match in Našice in 2016 and opening one in renovated King Tomislav' sports hall. Both teams have already played their premier matches of the second part of the season with NEXE losing clearly in Veszprem with 39:21 and Vardar playing in Banja Luka less than 24 hours before the duel in Slavonia. This will also be a good test for the team from Skopje with the clash against Rhein Neckar Löwen being less than a week away. Fans in Našice will also have a privilege to congratulate to medallists from EURO in Poland - Vardar' silver Spaniards Šterbik, Maqueda and Dujshebaev but also to bronze Croat Cindrić. Stoilov and Manaskov are suspended and will not play on Saturday. Another bronze Croat, Igor Karačić, will be absent due to illness and therefore he will not be able to receive congratulations.
Zdenko Kordi, NEXE's coach:
At the beginning of the second part of the season we are playing against two teams which are fighting for CL's F4. Vardar is a team with lots of members from different national teams. I hope that fans in Našice will have a chance to see some of the best from EURO play in their sports hall tomorrow. Our goal is to perform great against favored teams and show the meaninig of team spirit.
Marin Vegar, NEXE's left back:
We did not play in Veszprem as we've agreed before the match. Vardar is another challenge for us and we want to make amend for a bad match in Veszprem, play more aggressive in defense and reduce attacking mistakes. I also hope fnas will come to the stands and greet our bronze medallists from EURO - Karačić and Cindrić.
Raul Gonzales, Vardar's coach:
The game against NEXE is our second in less than 24 hours. NEXE are one of the teams in the league which always plays with extra motivation against Vardar and we expect it to be the same on Saturday. They are a young and talented team which is situated at the middle of the table and they will be inspired to make a good result. For us it is important to play well and to get these three points, because we want to stay in race for top places which would secure us a place on F4.