The Veszprém handball team became the club world champion.
After extra time, Veszprém HC defeated SC Magdeburg 34-33 in the final of the men's handball club world championship, thus winning the trophy for the first time in its history.
SC Magdeburg (German) – Veszprém HC 33-34 (14-13, 28-28, 31-32)
• shots/goals: 54/34, respectively 54/33
• goals from seven meters: 4/3, respectively 5/4
• exhibitions: 6, respectively 0 minutes
The World Club Championship organized by the International Handball Federation has been won by Magdeburg every year since 2021, so the players from Veszprém faced real specialists in the final. On the other hand, the Hungarian club has participated in the tournament only once so far, reaching the final in 2015, when it lost to the German Füchse Berlin team.
The team from Bakony started with three goals scored in a row, to which the German champion responded with the same series. Rodrigo Corrales saved the excellent form he showed in the semi-final against Barcelona, but despite the feats of the Spanish goalkeeper, the defending Hungarian champion could not create an advantage.
After the first quarter of an hour, the quality of Veszprém's offensive game dropped, so Xavi Pascual asked for time out at 8-10. The last minute of the half turned out to be chaotic: Magdeburg could attack for a two-goal advantage, but Corrales saved another jump, so the first half ended with a score of 13-14.
After halftime, neither side could immediately gain a significant advantage, however, around the 40th minute, the Hungarian champion changed gears: thanks to a five-goal streak, Veszprém went 18-22. Turning to the last ten minutes of the match, the German team was limited to one goal, so the decision was again left to the hair. With the score 28-27, Pascual called a time-out in the 59th minute, and although Veszprém attacked throughout the last minute after the conceded goal, it was 28-28 on the scoreboard at the end of regular time, so overtime followed, just like in the semi-final.
Veszprém did better in the first five minutes of extra time, even though they were at a disadvantage, Magdeburg couldn't respond to Fabregas' flawless goal, so the sides went into the second half of extra time with Veszprém leading 32-31.
The last five minutes started with a double Corrales feat, but in the 70th minute, the German champion was able to attack again for a draw. Magdeburg could not convert the overtime free throw into a goal, so Veszprém won the match 34-33. Ludovic Fabregas contributed to the success with nine goals, Nedim Remili with eight, and Rodrigo Corrales with 14 saves.
Between 2013 and 2019, Pascual was able to celebrate the Club World Cup title five times on the Barcelona bench, and as head coach of Veszprém, he was able to lead his team to victory for the sixth time.
László Nagy, the sports director of Veszprém HC, gave a satisfied assessment after the final.
"It was an exciting match, that's what we expected. Amazing fight and good individual performances on both sides, amazing defense, good goalkeeping performance. It was a game worthy of a final, luckily we came out of it well, I am extremely happy" -
Nagy said about the match.
In his view, Xavi Pascual, who arrived in the summer, has been working with the team for a short time, but the head coach and the players are starting to gain the trust of each other, and hopefully this work will continue and work well.
"To begin with, it's a huge energy bomb emotionally, the players will be able to feed off of it a lot"
– described Veszprém's first club world championship title László Nagy.
Featured image: Photo: IHF / Kolektiff / Jozo Cabraja
