The head coach of Macedonia's inline hockey team gathered the national team for a 10 days camp in Jesenice, Slovenia, before leaving to the next destination: Steindorf in Austria where the IIHF Inline Hockey Qualifications Europe will be played. For Macedonia it will be the fifth qualification since 2011, it can be said that this qualification tournament is the strongest so far. 8 Teams in total will play out one winner who will be promoted to the Division I in 2017 in Bratislava.
Hockey in Macedonia Blog asked head coach Jure Vnuk (blue shirt on picture) some questions.
HM: Hello Jure, how is the team doing in Jesenice? What can you tell us after two days of practice?
JV: Thanks for the invitation for the interview. The team is doing great we are practicing two times per day in the rink and do some team stuff beside the practice to get in shape for the upcoming event. The location here is wonderful and offers us all resources we need for the team.
HM: Macedonia is in group A playing versus host Austria and Serbia, Bulgaria. First game for Macedonia will be versus Bulgaria on June 22nd. Is the team ready?
JV: Yes of course, the team is ready as we work together not only since the camp here in Jesenice. The most of the team plays together for two years since the last qualifications 2014. The team played two seasons in the croatian inline hockey league, I believe that two years of hard work will finally show results.
HM: What is your goal with team Macedonia in the qualifications, as we have top nations appearing there like Austria or in group B Latvia?
JV: The main goal when you participate on such an event must be to win the tournament and to get the promotion to Division I. But we have to watch carefully our steps, and place it one by one. That means first of all we must play and win the first game to make a solid base for a further success. So the main goal is clear, win the torunament. The first primary goal is to write history and finally win the first match in Macedonian inline hockey history.
HM: This is what we wanted to ask in the following question, Macedonia did not won so far any game in the past four tournaments. But in the last tournament in Sofia 2014, before the IIHF switched to a two year competition, there was already a progress seen. The years before Macedonia got smashed by Bulgarians (and others) with 20 goals difference, but then you lost in a close game 3:6? Is now the time right to make the first win?
JV: Yes, the time is absolutely right. We were already close in 2014 but the defeat versus Bulgaria in the first game broke our motivation as we all expected to win, so we lost the following two games. But as i said, two years of work will show the progress we made. The team learned a lot in the past period and I think the team is ready to challenge any team.
HM: Are there any injuries in the roster?
JV: No, all players are so far in good and healthy shape.
HM: Good news to hear. So full roster available, the best team is ready for the challenge?
JV: I would not say the best team, i would say the team which understood that we must act like a team to move one step forward.
HM: Thank you very much Jure. Best wishes for the tournament.
JV: Thanks!
0 Kommentare