Flash quotes: EHF FINAL4 Women 2025 final and third-place match
BUDAPEST — Comments from players and head coaches after Györi Audi ETO KC won the final match against Odense Håndbold 29:27 and Team Esbjerg beat Metz Handball 30:27 in the third-place match at the EHF FINAL4 Women 2025 at MVM Dome on Sunday.
Györi Audi ETO KC vs Odense Håndbold 29:27
Per Johansson (SWE) — head coach, Györi Audi ETO KC
On his EHF FINAL4 secret:
"I don’t know if it is a secret, but I have been here four times, and now many of my players can tell the ones who haven’t been here how it is working. That's why we are getting calmer and calmer. We had a tough season with a lot of injuries, but we came back and had a full squad, and I think we have a healthy environment where everybody supports and follows the intentions. They sometimes can’t understand me, but I am privileged to have a group of fantastic people, but also very good handball players. This is maybe my secret.”
Hatadou Sako (FRA) — goalkeeper, Györi Audi ETO KC
On bringing her energy to the game in the second half:
"I always try to bring a lot of energy when I go to the court, and I know it is really important for my teammates. They work really hard in defence, so it is my job as a goalkeeper to do same. I wanted to take some pressure of them and give them some energy in return. I think we did great, I'm happy and proud of my team."
Kristina Jörgensen (DEN) — centre back, Györi Audi ETO KC
On her feelings on earning her first CL title:
"I am happy that we could win, but it's also a feeling of relief and satisfaction. I believed in us from the beginning. We knew that we have to score whenever possible, but Katrine Lunde would have many saves. We focused on one goal at a time and kept on pushing, and today it was enough to be successful. The fans created a fantastic atmosphere here, in MVM Dome and they pushed us ahead during the whole game; it was an incredible feeling."
Bruna de Paula (BRA) — left back, Györi Audi ETO KC
On defending their title:
"This is an amazing feeling, I'm really happy, grateful and proud of all the girls and our staff. We did a great job this weekend."
On the final:
"Odense have really good players and they never give up, they fought till the end today, as well. Even when we were leading by two, three goals, I couldn't celebrate, because I knew that after yesterday's game everything is possible. If you're not focused until the end, it's easy to be on the losing side."
On the fans at MVM Dome:
"If you want to search for a reason to win, you have to include the fans, as did our goalkeeper, Hatadou (Sako). She was one of the most valuable players today with her performance, as well. I'm proud of her and the team."
Ole Gustav Gjekstad (NOR) — head coach, Odense Håndbold
On the final:
"Györ were better than us today, no doubt about it. We started to play defence in the second half, and that is a little bit late, and it’s difficult to get back. All in all, I are proud of my girls. We are fighting all day. We are a bit disappointed today because we wanted to win, tomorrow I think we’ll be very proud of the silver medal. My girls were fighting out the whole season. Now we just have to congratulate Györ, they have been better than us in this match.
Katrine Lunde (NOR) — goalkeeper, Odense Håndbold
On her passion for handball:
"I love to play handball and the best you can do is to come here to the EHF FINAL4. When you come in, you want to give everything that you can and see if you can change a bit."
On the final:
"I am proud of the team today and proud of the results, but I’m also disappointed because I think actually we made too many mistakes and we can have a bit more saves. Then we would have a chance to beat them. You cannot be down by six or seven and then always come back. We tried."
Thale Rushfeldt Deila (NOR) —- left back, Odense Håndbold
On the defeat in the final:
"We should have started the game better. When you meet a great team like Győr, you have to play excellent throughout the whole game, and we made too many mistakes today, both in offence and defence. When you get this far behind, it is hard to get back, especially that we had to do it yesterday, too. I'm proud to be here, but it's always sad to lose. We have mixed emotions right now."
On Odense's strong character in fantastic comebacks throughout the season:
"We never stop fighting, no matter what. Yesterday, it was a successful combat, today it wasn't enough, but the goal is now to be better for the majority of the game. It's good that we could keep fighting until the very end, but it was too little, too late."
Lysa Tchaptchet (ESP) - line player, Odense Håndbold
On earning the silver medal:
"This medal will be highly valued later on, but right now we feel the pain of losing. We could have done much more better, although we are proud of ourselves. Time will heal this wound."
On fighting until the very end in the final:
"Our biggest strength is that we never give up as a team. We always keep on pushing, knowing that the game lasts 60 minutes and there is always a chance. Today, we couldn't succeed, but yesterday we did. We have to improve in the earlier stages of the game and have a tight match from the beginning."
On the atmosphere at MVM Dome:
"It was amazing to play here, and there wasn't a bad kind of pressure from the spectators. All handball players like when fans are enthusiastic. We also enjoyed playing in this atmosphere, but we wanted to go home with the trophy, so we are a bit disappointed."
Watch the official post-match press conference on Home of Handball YouTube:
Team Esbjerg vs Metz Handball 30:27
Tomas Axnér (SWE) — head coach, Team Esbjerg
On Metz goalkeeper Cléopatre Darleux's last match of her career:
"Congratulations to Metz for the amazing season and also to Cléo for your wonderful career, what all you have done for handball. As a handball fan I am very grateful that I got an opportunity to see you play."
On the bronze medal match:
"About this game today I think like all games this weekend it’s small things to decide. I think Metz got a good start and came ahead. We had a good structure in our attack and then Metz started challenging us. We lost kind of momentum and Metz played far better than us playing this kind of handball. They could easily catch us again at 16:16 and in the second half we were also down with a couple of goals but we found the momentum again and the structure and we could play 7-against-6 and also calmed things down a little bit for us. It was a close game and could have ended both ways and of course I am happy to win the game and I know it is very hard for everybody who loses the semi-final to try to find new energy, reload. We worked with that yesterday and I’m sure that Metz also did that because they really performed well today and came out with a lot of will, power, energy and belief."
On the match's high intensity:
"It was a close game and normally bronze medal games are not that intense with so many two-minute suspensions, but both teams wanted that. I think it was great for the fans and the ones watching at home on the television."
Michala Møller (DEN) — left back, Team Esbjerg
On the bronze medal match:
"It was tough and it was a tough day yesterday, and also a long night for me trying to move on. But I think we have a really good group and talked a lot and tried to move on. We made an agreement that when we showed up for breakfast this morning we would have to focus on this game and prepare ourselves as it is a final. I know it is difficult to do that but at least try it. But I think that we managed that."
On Cléopatre Darleux retiring:
"I also want to thank Cléopatre for her amazing career. You should be really proud of it."
Merel Freriks (NED) — line player, Team Esbjerg
On winning the bronze medal match:
"We came here for the gold medal, of course, but we could really show today that we want to win every fight, not just the one for the first place."
On the mental aspect of the game:
"Everyone was more and more tired with every passing minute, it's also a mental game we played against each other. It was a long match, both teams struggled with the concentration sometimes. At the end, we did our best to focus on the game better than Metz."
On Esbjerg's overall performance:
"I think we can be really proud of each other. Yesterday we fought as a team, we wanted to save this mentality also for today and we succeeded, even when it was hard. We had great defence in crucial moments and personally I am very proud of everyone."
Emmanuel Mayonnade (FRA) — head coach, Metz Handball
On his losing streak at the EHF FINAL4:
"Esbjerg are a strong team, we have a lot of respect for them. I came here eight times to the press conference after the matches in the (EHF) FINAL4; I only spoke one time first, so I lost seven times. That’s just unbelievable."
On the bronze medal match:
"I think we are not strong enough to win the EHF FINAL4 and also do this kind of match. We were up by two, three goals and then we made too many mistakes. In the last 15 minutes, Kristensen made a lot of saves. I can say we are a little bit tired, we played the later game and we played overtime, and we were afraid about the end of the match. That’s why we started the match with reserved players. We tried to find some good energy for the match but I probably missed something. We lost twice in a row, we have to work again to come back next year, next season. I don’t know if we will do it but we’ll give our best to come back again."
Cléopatre Darleux (FRA) — goalkeeper, Metz Handball
On her long and successful career and last CL game:
"I have two more games to play in my professional career, but I wanted to finish my Champions League era with a win. We really wanted to win and gave our all, but sometimes it's not only about playing handball, but more importantly what's inside our head. I am really happy despite the defeat. I enjoyed playing with this team throughout this season, it was a great choice from me to come here and finish my career. I will retire with good memories and friends, and I will come back next year, hopefully to celebrate Metz's victory. It's a young team, they need time to fulfil their potential."
Anne Mette Hansen (DEN) — left back, Metz Handball
On the decisive factors in the game against Esbjerg:
"I think we missed too many shots, while Anna Kristensen, their goalkeeper, gave an excellent performance. We made mistakes in key moments and sometimes because of our lack of experience in tense situations like this. Despite the defeat, I feel like we gave everything we could."
On playing the bronze medal match the second time in a row against Esbjerg:
"It's always a bad feeling to lose a game, especially, if it was the same last year. Esbjerg are a great team, but so are we, we were in the (EHF) FINAL4, so we will learn from this experience and move forward."
Emma Jacques (FRA) — right back, Metz handball
On playing a tight game against Esbjerg:
"After yesterday's defeat we were sad, but we really wanted to finish the season with a winning match. In spite of not winning, we can be very proud of ourselves, we tried to do our best. It is devastating, though, to have a last match like this."
On having a bigger role recently in the team:
"When Laura (Flippes) announced her pregnancy, I knew that I would have more role in the game. I tried to do my best to fill her absence, but it wasn't enough this time. I hope everybody can be as proud of me as I am of them. Today I missed a lot of chances to score, but that's just the way handball works."
Watch the official post-match press conference on Home of Handball YouTube:
