Solberg striving for success with “perfect team” Györ

Silje Solberg is no stranger to the upper echelons of international handball, having played at major championships with Norway since 2012 and already claimed a number of medals at EHF EUROs and World Championships.

Despite that, her debut in the DELO EHF Champions League was a long time coming. After spells with clubs in four different countries, the 30-year-old goalkeeper made her move to Györi Audi ETO KC last summer and finally got a taste of top-flight club handball.

“I had been looking forward to playing in the Champions League and waiting for it but I was also waiting for the perfect team such as Györ.

“I want to play to win and you can do that here, I am really enjoying it. We do not win all the time but we are fighting to do so and is good for handball that we struggle sometimes. The Champions League has lived up to expectations so far.”

Although she has had to wait to join a club with the prestige of Györ, the environment she joined is not too unfamiliar, having played with the other dominant force in women’s handball, Norway, for almost a decade.

“I think you can draw a lot of parallels between the two, the biggest being the winning culture. You come into a team that is used to winning, that knows what it takes and helps each other on the way.

“I think the most important thing is the values, a good mentality and you are not afraid of losing. The winning spirit is built within the team and you understand that as soon as you arrive.”

Triumvirate between the posts

Another similarity between club and country is the ridiculously strong selection of goalkeepers. While Solberg has most often worked alongside Katrine Lunde and Kari Grimsbø, both former Györ players themselves, on the Norwegian national team, she now finds herself as part of a trio with a pair of French stars, Amandine Leynaud and Laura Glauser.

All three have the quality to be considered number one at almost any club but they focus on being a team within a team at Györ.

“I feel like we are not competing with each other, we are teammates. Both of the girls have amazing personalities and amazing goalkeepers. Of course, we want to play ourselves but we want each other to play well and we help each other, I think this is a great strength for a goalkeeper team.

“We also know that a team needs more than one goalkeeper, so for me, I think it is really important to be a team and work together.

“Both are really experienced, particularly Leynaud, who is very good at helping in training or matches with small details like I am used to with Mats Olsson on the national team. We also have the same ideas on how to play in goal and it is easier to help each other when we have the same philosophy.”

Solberg was in direct competition with Leynaud in December’s final of EHF EURO 2020, where Norway came out on top 22:20 in a tense game in which their keeper produced a truly brilliant 16 saves at 46 per cent to secure the win.

It was an ideal end to 2020 for Silje Solberg, who earlier in the year had to deal with a bout of vertigo and missed the first half of the championship with a positive COVID result.

“Luckily, I was not ill with COVID and I was lucky to play the championship after getting it so late. I was really trying to prepare myself mentally and do what I could at home with my boyfriend, doing some hand-eye coordination exercises, which helped with the fast recovery.”

Impressed by MOTW rivals

As Solberg alluded to, Györ have not had things all their own way this season. Despite holding on to their impeccable unbeaten record, four of their group phase matches have ended in a draw and three of those required late comebacks from the reigning champions.

Against CSKA, Brest and Odense, all away from home, Györ have clawed their way back from a seemingly dire situation in the final minutes to earn a draw, pointing to their incredible mental strength and the psychological advantage they hold over opposing teams.

“It’s a really good strength to have, maybe people will be more afraid of us and we have this faith that it is ok to be behind by like three goals because we know we can come back.”

Since their opening round draw in September, the rematch between Györ and CSKA has become highly-anticipated

CSKA, making their debut in the competition, looked set to stun Györ as they held a three-goal lead with six minutes remaining, before a string of Amandine Leynaud saves inspired a late comeback and a 26:26 draw.

Since then, both sides have dominated group B and with one game remaining, CSKA lead the way on 23 points but with Györ a single point behind, they know a victory on Saturday at 18:00 CET will see them win the group.

“I am really impressed with it being their first season. They have a really strong team and have been really stable, which is perhaps the most impressive thing. They have a strong defence, wings who like to run hard on the counter-attack and some great shooters.

“It is very important for us to win this game to be number one in the group and we will need to be at 100% if we are going to beat them because they have impressed me a lot,” concludes Solberg