The Czech Republic pulled off one of the biggest surprises at the 23rd IHF Women’s World Championship, when they sensationally eliminated 2015 bronze medallists Romania in the eighth-final. The shock was not necessarily because one squad were considered stronger, as Czech Republic showed they are an increasingly dangerous side at the EHF EURO 2016 then confirmed that with their performances at Germany 2017 – it was a surprise because of the way they won the match. Czech Republic were chasing their opponents on the score board for the entire game, and were finally rewarded when they took the lead for the first time in the 59th minute to finish with a one-goal victory secured in the final seconds.

Not only did Czech Republic enter the match as the underdogs against the powerful Romania team, which includes the likes of 2010, 2015 and 2016 World Player of the Year Cristina Neagu – they also celebrated a historic result as they claimed the quarter-final place. The team are now in the top eight at Germany 2017, which is their highest-ever ranking after their previous best of 13th in 1997.

ihf.info spoke with one of the team’s two top scorers, Iveta Luzumova, who tallies 36 goals alongside Marketa Jerabkova after six matches at Germany 2017, following the historic eighth-final victory.

 

ihf.info: Congratulations. Can you possibly describe how you are feeling right now?

Iveta Luzumova: “I cannot believe it now. We are happy, really, really happy. On Friday, we were sad after the match against Hungary that we lost [by one goal], but at the end we said: for us it’s better to have Romania than France.

“I think France play different and this type of match against Romania, it was quite like that against Hungary. We said to ourselves: it will be a really big game today and I think they thought they would win easily. It didn’t happen, we won, and it was a really perfect game. We played really good as a team.”

 

ihf.info: Can you tell us a bit about preparing to face Romania and your tactics against them?

Iveta Luzumova: “Our tactic was that we have to defend good against Neagu, and also cancel the passes to [line player Crina Elena] Pintea. I think in the second half we did that really good. That was the goal.”

 

ihf.info: It was a very tense end to the match with your team only taking the lead in the last two minutes. How can you handle such an exciting moment, when you suddenly have the chance to win after being behind the entire game?

Iveta Luzumova: “Before the match we said that we have to play really good, that they will be really nervous at the end. It happened, and when it was equal, I saw that they were without power, they didn’t know what to do. We said that we have to stay calm.”

 

ihf.info: This is a historic result for Czech women’s handball. What do you think about that?

Iveta Luzumova: “It means so much. I don’t know what to say because I cannot believe that we won. We are really happy and I think all the people in the Czech Republic will congratulate us. Before the game, nobody expected that we would win. We said we would do it, and we did it.”

 

ihf.info: You personally have been having a great season – you are top scorer of the EHF Champions League, and one of the top scorers for Czech Republic at the World Championship. What do you think about your personal performances?

Iveta Luzumova: “I feel good. Today I was a little bit without power, but the other girls played really good. For me, I’m really happy that I’m healthy. I had many injuries in the last years. This season, I played without injuries, and it’s very important for me.”