ELDA SAID "GOODBYE, EUROPE" IN LARVIK Orsan Elda Prestigio said goodbye to the European Competitions 2005-2006 with its defeat in Larvik. The Spanish team lost by 8 goals against the Norwegian champions in a match where Larvik was in control all the way.
Larvik in control.
With 4-0 in the fifth minute, Larvik’s players forced the Spanish coach Angel Sandoval to take a time out. Elda reacted as soon as they could but a very strong defence by Larvik and a very efficient goalkeeper Ingrid Odegard - Lene Rantala did not play - allowed Larvik to dominate the result throughout the first half. This first half ended with a 7-goal lead for Larvik (14:7).
In the second half, the Norwegian players had their best after only three minutes (17:7). Little by little, Elda improved and in the 17th minute, the Spaniards scored their 16th goal and Larvik started to relax a little.
After that the Norwegian lead decreased to four (20:16). But in the last thirteen minutes, Larvik ´s fast breaks returned and the Norwegian team won an easy victory in this important match in order to assume the third place of the group. In fact, they also have chances to take the second place and qualify for the Champions League 11/4 finals.
“We had a very cold start of the match”.
Angel Sandoval, Spanish coach, declared after the match: "We had a very cold start of the match, we were not concentrated. Larvik started with a very strong defence and we could not react. We reacted little by little but we made big mistakes and so it was impossible to win in Larvik. We wanted to play well in Bergslihallen but it wasn’t our day.”
Sandoval continued: “When we started this league, we knew it was going to be very difficult getting any win against the best teams in Europe. This group is the most difficult group in the Champions League 2005-2006. If we had been in Astroc Sagunto’s group (group C) everything would have been different. We have to try to beat Viborg in the last match because we don’t want to finish the Champions League without triumphs.”
“In my opinion, the best players in Larvik were: Ingrid Odegard and Kari Mette Johansen for Larvik, and Silva Ilic and Maaike Turnhout for our team".
In the sixth and last round of the Champions League, Krim Ljublana is going to meet Larvik in Slovenia, and Elda is going to play against Viborg in Spain. Krim and Viborg are the favourites for the two first places of the group and the qualification for the 1/4 finals.
