All-star Team nominees profiles - part 1
All-star Team nominees profiles - part 1
Before voting, take a closer look at the nominees in the categories: goalkeepers, left wings, left backs, centre backs and line players.
GOALKEEPERS
• born and raised in Vác, where she played for eight years
• played internationally in the EHF Cup and the Cup Winners’ Cup, and was first called up for the national team at age 18 - for the home EHF EURO 2014
• one of her saves at EHF EURO 2014 was elected ’Save of the Round’
• the 1.86-m tall goalkeeper is an up-and-comer in Hungarian handball and is expected to be the first choice for the national team
Katrine Lunde (NOR) - Vipers Kristiansand
• one of the best goalkeepers in the world, with a huge collection of trophies won with both her clubs and the Norwegian national team
• her move to Rostov-Don after five years at Hungary’s Györ was one of the biggest transfers in 2015
• joined Vipers two years later to be reunited with her twin sister, Kristine
Amandine Leynaud (FRA) - Györi Audi ETO KC
• joined Györ from Vardar in the summer of 2018
• was one of the crucial players for Vardar in five seasons since 2013
• CL All-star Team nominee in 2015/16, 2016/17 and 2017/18
• came close, but never won the CL with Vardar: they finished runners-up twice and placed third three times
• joined in 2011, she is the longest-serving Metz player alongside Jurswailly Luciano
• a fan favourite thanks to her never-ending good mood
• a very important player in the national team
• back playing after a year off to give birth to her daughter
• played in Brazil until she was 27, when she transferred to Issy Paris
• Has changed clubs a lot: After one year in France, she moved to Dinamo Volgograd before signing with Bucuresti for 2015/16, then joining Vardar for 2016/17
• her nickname is “Taffarel” after her idol, one of Brazil’s greatest football goalkeepers
• loves tattoos and has 32 on her body. Her favourite ones are the names of her elatives in Chinese and the Olympic rings inked in London
LEFT WINGS
• joined Buducnost from Vardar in 2016 and previously played for RK Danilovgrad, Buducnost’s second team
• made CL debut with Vardar in 2014/15 in a match against Krim
• was part of All-star Team at Youth WCh 2014, and is member of Montenegrin senior national team since 2015
• her brother, Petar Grbic, is a professional football player, also for the national team
Manon Houette (FRA) - Metz Handball
• returned to France in the summer of 2017 after a season with Thüringer HC
• before the stint in Germany, she had only played for Fleury Loiret Handball
• was elected best left wing in the Bundesliga in 2016/17
• made her national team debut in 2014 and is now a regular, sharing the left wing position with captain Siraba Dembele
• joined CSM in the summer of 2016 from Buducnost and will return at the end of this season
• her mother played handball as a goalkeeper; started handball in Bar at the age of 12 with her brother Musa and immediately loved it
• it took her two years to get into the first team after being signed by Buducnost
• voted for the 2013/14 CL All-star team as the best left wing
Nadine Schatzl (HUN) - FTC-Rail Cargo Hungaria
• joined FTC in 2015 after three seasons with Erd
• had her first CL experience as an 18-year-old with Györ in 2010/11, and she reached the CL Final with that club the following season
• born in Munich, Germany, but started playing handball in Mohács at the age of 10
• member of Hungarian national team, and was CL All-star Team nominee in 2016/17
Freja Cohrt (DEN) - Odense HC
• joined from league rivals Silkeborg Voel in the summer of 2017
• was part of the Danish team that won the under 18 WCh 2013 in Montenegro
• a fast and technically skilled winger with a god variety of shots
LEFT BACKS
• technically very skilled Slovenian player, who was raised in Zagorje, where she also won a championship title
• leading national team player, scored 38 goals in qualification for the EHF EURO 2018
• at her best on the left side but can play as a centre back as well
• joined Györ in the summer of 2017 from Danish runners-up København Håndbold, where she spent three seasons
• got her international break-through in the Danish national team at the EHF EURO 2014
• had large parts of her first season in Györ ruined by injuries, but is back at full strength now
• hard and effectively shooting backcourt player in the attack and just as valuable in defence due to her uncompromising style
• started with handball at age nine in her home town Niksic, thanks to her father Jovo, former president of Sutjeska
• joined Buducnost in 2013 at age 15, but was on loan in Danilovgrad for two years
• named best young player in Montenegro twice (2014, 2015)
• scored four goals on her CL debut against Sävehof in 2015/16
• joined Vipers from league rivals Byasen ahead of the 2017/18 season
• daughter of former Norwegian international Hanne Hegh and former assistant coach of Norway’s female national team, Ketil Arntzen
• started playing handball at age eight and started her senior career in Gjerpen, the club she reached the Norwegian top flight with
• first Dutch player in Russian handball, joined Rostov in 2018 from Issy Paris
• previously played for Emmen, Oldenburg (both NED) and Baia Mare (ROU)
• gained CL experience with Baia Mare in 2014/15 and 2015/16, scoring 60 times in the latter season
• her parents, grandparents and aunt also played handball
• is a key player of the Dutch national team, and contributed a lot to its successes in recent years
CENTRE BACKS
• Spanish international, a clutch player for FTC since being signed from Itxako in 2012
• injury-prone sharp shooter, has been through difficult times after injuring the same knee twice
• finished runner-up in the CL with Itxako in 2011; voted to the All-star Team of EHF EURO 2010
• the star playmaker has won three EHF EUROs and a duo of World Championships since making her debut for Norway in 2010
• joined Györ last season after spending four seasons at Issy Paris Hand
• individual accolades include: MVP of the World Championship 2017 and French league MVP in 2014, in addition to various other recognitions
• one of the products of the local handball school in Metz
• plays at centre back but is also able to help on the left side
• big social media fan, often seen on Twitter sporting outlandish hats and original outfits
• has extended her contract with Metz until 2020
• Dutch playmaker, who made an immediate impact after arriving in Györ in 2015
• moved to Denmark at a young age to play for Holstebro and later FC Midtjylland, which she led to the FINAL4 in 2014 as she become the event’s top scorer (20 goals)
• CL All-star centre back 2015/16, player of the year in the Danish league in 2014, EHF Player of the Month for December 2016, EHF EURO 2016 All-star centre back and MVP
• one of the main transfers in the summer of 2018, joining from Vardar
• competed in karate and reached the blue belt before moving on to ball sports, including volleyball, basketball, football and tennis
• voted World Player of the Year in 2013, made All-star Team at EHF EURO 2012
• won the CL with Györ in 2012/13, finished runner-up once, and finished third three straight times
LINE PLAYERS
• mainly a defensive specialist but also valuable player in attack
• branded by France national team coach Olivier Krumbholz as one of the five best defenders in the world, was crowned best defender at EHF EURO 2016
• shares the same passion for social media as Grace Zaadi
• tall, strong line player who is very difficult to defend and works well with the back-court
• selected as the best line player of the French league in 2017/18
• started her professional career with HC Zalau before moving to Thuringer HC in Germany in 2015, then transferring to Issy Paris Hand in 2017
• joined Györ at the beginning of 2019
Kseniya Makeeva (RUS) - Rostov-Don
• 2018/19 will be her fifth season with Rostov-Don
• began career at Dinamo Volgograd, where she won six Russian championships
• was also a teammate of Lois Abbingh at Romanian side Baia Mare in 2014/15
• plays for the Russian national team but missed the golden 2016 Olympic tournament due to injury
• joined Brest in 2017, like fellow Serbian player Jovana Stoiljkovic
• she first arrived in France in 2012, played in Besançon for three seasons before joining Metz in 2015, and played in the CL for the first time in 2016/17
• scored 39 goals in Metz’s 2016/17 European campaign
• regarded as one of the best line players in the French league
Meike Schmelzer (GER) - Thüringer HC
• n her fifth CL season with Thüringer HC
• successfully stepped in to replace captain Danick Snelder after the Dutch line player joined FTC in 2017
• became German national team player at the age of 20, and played her first major event at EHF EURO 2016
• studies sports and English to become a teacher after her handball career
