Men’s Handball World Championships: How we fought for each other and for Hungary was encouraging – Bánhidi

Bence Bánhidi was chosen the best player of the match with six goals. Channel M4 Sport first asked him what had happened at the end of regular game time when they equalized from three points behind.

“We looked up at the scoreboard and saw the difference of three points. Everybody started screaming. We then looked at each other, trusted and relied on one other and fought. We got two balls and equalized in the end. The second half of overtime didn't work out, maybe we also got tired, but we did our best to get into the top 4. It would take a lot of energy for every team to bounce back at the end of the game. Nevertheless, the team deserves all the praise because how we fought for each other and for Hungary is very encouraging for the future. We have to take with us the team moral, teamwork and the willingness to fight. Obviously, there are a lot of work done behind the scenes, and we prepared a lot both mentally and physically. This national team deserved to be here, and perhaps could've deserved to be in the top 4. We hope that we'll reach it at the European Championships next year.”

Máté Lékai was seemingly devastated by losing the match.

“I'm proud of the team. We did everything to win, we were head-to-head with the opponent and could equalize in the end. I congratulate the players, and I hope we'll be able to play the semifinals at the next big competition because it would mean a lot.”

He said about their open defense used towards the end of the game that they couldn't practice this much before.

“We had to do something special. It worked out at the time, so it's possible that we'll use it more in the future. We showed how great of a fighter we are and put our hearts and souls into the game and the equalizer. Then, unfortunately, I failed in overtime for the second time in a month.”

Head coach István Gulyás was also asked about the open defense first.

“We were at a disadvantage and we had to get the ball. We had to come up with something to confuse them. We did it as we got two balls and came back to the game. In overtime, a missed or scored opportunity can be a game-changer. We missed a 7-meter penalty, had an attacker fault, a missed goal which cannot happen in the last five minutes of the game.”

The Hungarian national team finished 5^th at the World Championships.

“We are sad, but I hope the sadness will go away within a day or two and we'll try to think about the good things only. Despite the defeat, we made a step forward. We played well and our tactics were great. The win just depended on the small things. Overall, we've achieved our goal which we can be proud of.”

READ THE SUMMARY (IN HUNGARIAN) OF THE MATCH HERE.

MEN'S HANDBALL WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS, EGYPT

QUARTERFINALS
FRANCE – HUNGARY 35 – 32 (12–14, 30–30, 32–31) – after overtime
Giza, behind closed doors. Referees:Ignacio García/Andreu Marín (Spain)
FRANCE:V. GÉRARD – Abalo 2, Mem 3, Mahé 1 (1), Fabregas 2, N'Guessan 2, GUIGOU 6 (1).Substitutes:GENTY (goalkeeper), N. REMILI 4, L. Karabatic 1, M. Richardson, Lagarde 3, DESCAT 5 (2), Porte 3, Tournat 3.Head coach:Guillaume Gille
HUNGARY:MIKLER – P. Rodríguez 1, Máthé 4 (1), SIPOS 1, BÁNHIDI 6, Szita 4, LÉKAI 5.Substitutes:Székely (goalkeeper), BÓKA 5, M. Rosta Jr. 1, Bodó 3, G. Ancsin. 1, P. Hornyák, Zs. Balogh 1 (1).Head coach:István Gulyás
Results.7^th minute: 1–4. 11^th m.: 1–7. 13^th m.: 3–9. 21^st m.: 8–9. 22^nd m.: 8–10. 25^th m.: 9–12. 34^th m.: 14–15. 39^th m.: 19–19. 40^th m.: 20–19. 44^th m.: 20–22. 22–20. 46^th m.: 22–22. 47^th m.: 24–23. 50^th m.: 25–25. 53^rd m.: 28–26. 58^th m.: 30–28. 59^th m.: 30–29. 60^th m.: 30–30. 62^nd m.: 31–31. 65^th m..: 32–31. 68^th m.: 33–32
Exclusion:8, and 6 minutes
7-meter penalty:5/4, and 3/2

RESULT OF THE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS (FROM 5^TH TO 32^ND PLACE)
5. Hungary
6. Norway
7. Egypt
8. Qatar
9. Slovenia
10. Portugal
11. Argentina
12. Germany
13. Poland
14. Russian Handball Federation
15. Croatia
16. Switzerland
17. Belarus
18. Brazil
19. Japan
20. Iceland
21. Bahrein
22. Algeria
23. North Macedonia
24. Uruguay
25. Tunisia
26. Austria
27. Chile
28. DR Congo
29. Morocco
30. Angola
31. South Korea
Cape Verde stepped back

Translated by Vanda Orosz