Handball captain of Serbia, Vladimir Cupara, stated today ahead of the playoff match for the World Championship that the “eagles” do not think about the two-goal lead from the first game and that they came to Hungary to secure another win.

The Serbian handball team completed their final training session in Veszprém before tomorrow's decisive match against Hungary for a place in the World Championship.

In the first playoff match, Serbia won 31:29 in Niš, heading into the Veszprém match with a two-goal advantage.

"A brilliant match awaits us, I am sure of that. We prepared well. I am satisfied with how we played in Niš. We were only slightly short of freshness in the last 15 minutes, but I believe we played an excellent match. It will certainly look a bit different at the beginning here, as the atmosphere in Niš was amazing for us, and we had a great tailwind from our fans," Cupara said after training.

He noted that Hungary would have strong fan support, emphasizing that his team is ready for anything.

"Regarding the match in Veszprém, I expect a similar atmosphere here, I believe that our people will give us substantial support. Some players' families are coming, so I think the match will be somewhat different in terms of the beginning. We have a two-goal lead, but we are not thinking about it. We came here for a win," Cupara declared.

Serbian handball captain Mijajlo Marsenić highlighted the importance of concentration and pointed out that the match against Hungary is of great significance.

"I believe we played a good match in Niš. We had a lead of 6 or 7 goals in a few rounds, but we ended up with a two-goal advantage. We saw where we made mistakes, we made quite a few 'silly' mistakes that cost us a better result. In the playoff, we need to correct all that, and I believe we can secure a place at the World Championship," Marsenić stated.

The playoff match between Serbia and Hungary will be played on Sunday at 5:30 PM in Veszprém. The arena, which can hold around 5,000 spectators, is sold out.

The World Handball Championship will be held in January 2027 in Germany.

(Telegraf.rs/Tanjug)