“Like a red rag to a bull”
28-year-old Maroz started his career at HC Gomel — a team from his native town — and then spent four seasons at SKA Minsk before moving to Zaporozhye last year.
SKA and Brest are rivals who have been competing for the domestic titles for years, and for the goalkeeper, playing against Meshkov has always been special.
“For us, Brest have always been like a red rag to a bull. At SKA, we relied on Belarusian players and we wanted to show that we could beat Brest, who had many foreigners,” Maroz recalls. “Sometimes we succeeded, sometimes not, but we always tried to make it hard for them.”
The Belarusian saw his transfer to Motor as an opportunity to take a step forward in his career.
“Of course, now I compete at a higher level. With SKA, I used to play in the EHF Cup, but the Champions League is a stronger competition, as the 16 best European teams fight for the trophy,” says Maroz, who confirms that he has never had any offers from Brest.
While the Belarusian champions finished fourth in group A with 15 points, Motor claimed 14 points and ranked fifth in group B.
“Our goal was to be fourth, but we did not reach it. Before the new year we did quite well and defeated our closest rivals, but in early 2021, we suffered some defeats,” says Maroz.
Zaporozhye’s calendar after the new year was quite tough, as the Ukrainian champions had to play away at THW Kiel, Barca and Veszprém — three teams who contested the EHF FINAL4 to end last season.
“Despite losing, we fought hard in each game. In Hungary, we lost by just four goals, and at Kiel, we missed too many chances,” Maroz said. “However, the home game against Aalborg was quite frustrating, as we were in front for a long time but ultimately lost.”
On the other hand, the Belarusian has special memories from the match at Nantes in December, narrowly won by Motor, 32:31.
“The French team led for much of the game, sometimes by five goals, but we made a strong comeback,” Maroz recalls.
