Siege mentality brings Targu Jiu to European League

Now, CSM Targu Jiu are making history with their debut in the group phase of the EHF European League Women, after securing a 55:50 aggregate win against Swedish side Önnereds HK in qualification round 3.

“Nobody thought that we were going to be here, not even us, to be honest, therefore it is a huge pride and a huge performance for Targu Jiu just to be here. We are quite a small team, who always wanted to go higher and higher, therefore this is just the climax of our journey here,” says coach Liviu Andries.

Andries is no stranger to Targu Jiu, having coached the men’s team in two stints, between 2004 and 2009 and between 2011 and 2016. During that time the club made four appearances in European competitions: three times in the Men’s EHF Cup and once in the EHF Men’s Cup Winners’ Cup.

He was there when Energia Targu Jiu made their European debut – the first team from the city to ever play in an European competition in handball – and now is on CSM’s bench in their maiden European season.

“It is something amazing, especially the way we got here, via the Romanian Cup, where we played the final against CSM Bucuresti. Nobody believed that we could get here, but it really is a huge performance,” Andries says.

“One week before the semi-final against Gloria Bistrița, we lost by 21 goals against them in the league, but then we bounced back, we kind of tricked them into thinking we could not do better, and we won that semi-final of the Romanian Cup on their court.

“That siege mentality, the belief that we can do anything we set our minds on, this was what brought us further and made us perform and I hope to see that in Europe too.”

Of course, the underdog status will follow CSM Targu Jiu in their quest in the EHF European League Women, but with Motherson Mosonmagyarovari KC, Costa del Sol Malaga and Sola HK in their group, the Romanian side will have their work cut out. They also have one eye on the domestic league, where they are currently 12th, only one point ahead of HC Zalău, which sits in the first relegation spot.

Therefore, with a roster nearly full of Romanian players – only Bulgarian goalkeeper Ekaterina Dzhukeva and Ukrainian left back Iryna Zinatullina being the odd ones out – it is likely that Targu Jiu will be a big underdog once again, especially as none of the players from the team have a lot of international experience and the only one who made the cut for the national team is injured.

“Against Önnereds, we were lucky to play both matches at home and it was a great atmosphere, but we lost Angela Cioca, due to an injury, and she will be out for the rest of the season. But on the plus side, we had the fans with us, and that helped a lot, they will also try to travel to our away matches in the group phase, which will be a huge boost,” says Andries.

Indeed, the first-ever participation in an European competition for a women’s team in Targu Jiu is likely to make waves in the small Romanian city of only 73,500 inhabitants, the birthplace of famous Romanian sculptor Constantin Brâncuși and the location of some of his most exciting works of art.

But sightseeing will not necessarily be on Sola, Malaga or Mosonmagyarorvar’s priority in this group, with the points being crucial in deciding their future in the European League.

“We hope to have a full arena in the home matches, because I think this is the toughest group for a Romanian side this season in the European League. We also do not have a lot of experience. But we will fight until the end to try and deliver some good performances,” adds Andries.

“However, we still have to think about the league. So the next months will be fiery for us, we also want to improve our squad, because from a quantitative point of view, we are really lacking and big challenges await us,” the coach concludes.

Photos © CSM Targu Jiu