Mathe looking forward to “very special” MOTW against Veszprém

The young Hungarian right back suffered a torn ACL with former club Elverum back in February last year.

“The beginning of the rehab in Norway was quite ok, as I could not do anything anyway. Then I went on holiday to Hungary to get some treatment and then to Paris as I joined them last summer,” recalls the 23-year-old.

“And the six months here have been really hard. I mean, everyone at the club, the physios, the staff, have all been wonderful to me. But there were a lot of tears.”

Mathe had to train alone, which is far from fun and games.

“Mentally, it sometimes felt like walking alone in a dark tunnel. I tried to focus on my progress, to get better every day,” he explains.

When finally fit to play, Mathe made his comeback in a French cup game in Chartres in early February, in crazy circumstances. While he was only planning to play for a couple of minutes, fellow right back Dainis Kristopans suffered a calf injury while warming up.

“(Coach) Raul Gonzalez came up to me and said I was starting the game. Well, I did not expect that,” Mathe laughs – although he scored five goals in that first game.

“Everything went all right, even though I was really, really tired afterwards.”

Things have now been going up and up for Mathe with Paris, as the left-hander netted four in his first Machineseeker EHF Champions League game against Zagreb, before scoring five against Dinamo the following week. These performances gave the impression that Mathe’s adaptation to his new team had almost been a walk in the park.

“Things look much easier on the court than they actually were. Things work well partially because I play with some of the best players in the world. Luc Steins for example, is doing a lot to put his teammates in the best situations on the court. I am really grateful to him,” says Mathe.

He went through tactical sessions with the team in January.

“I had to learn all the tactics book in one month. We had sessions just so I could learn them. The team and Raul Gonzalez did everything so I could adapt the best I could,” he adds.

Although Paris may already be qualified for the quarter-finals of the Champions League and have secured the top spot in group A, they have one final Match of the Week to play. And not just any Match of the Week, as they will be hosting Veszprém on Wednesday night.

As a Hungarian player, Dominik Mathe is of course not indifferent when it comes to playing against the team in red.

“I grew up 10 kilometres from Veszprém and the area is almost like my second home. And I will be playing against some of my national teammates, so all of this makes this game really special to me” he says, before adding: “We don’t have much pressure as we are already through. But I don’t want to let Veszprém win, I want us to finish this group phase on a win in front of our fans.”

Photos © Laurene Valroff