AUSTRIA
Monique Tijsterman (NED) - head coach, Austria
On the team's preparation:
"So far so good. We start already in September, we had two training camps. It was really good with a lot of games. Then last Monday we started in Bratislava for three days, only training.
"Yesterday (in a friendly match against Germany on Sunday) you saw that we want to play a match. It was really good preparation for us. We didn't start so well but at the end we made a really good impression.
"The group is fit, the girls are ready and we can't wait until Thursday."
On being a new head coach for the team:
"Of course it takes time. I started in February this year so it's nine months later. The girls know me a little bit better and I know the girls a little bit better. Now it's like OK, we are one team."
On a home EHF EURO:
"Everybody's so excited. But also there's some pressure of course because all the families are coming, and from the federation and the media side. But also from the girls' side, they want to perform. It's only once in a lifetime when you can play a home EURO so they are really motivated to work."
On the opening game against Slovakia:
"For us that will be a really important match, but also the start of the EURO. All three matches are really important, but on Thursday you know it's the start of the EURO and that makes it a little bit more special.
"I really want to play fast, I have a really good defence."
On the tournament favourites:
"For sure Norway will be in the top, but also France. Perhaps also the Netherlands although they miss some players. And for Denmark, Sandra Toft is staying at home. Four or five are favourites and then you have a large group who's really close together."
On the expansion of the tournament to 24 teams:
"It's good for handball, it's good for especially the younger players who are coming in now. With 24 teams of course you have a difference betwee the top and the middle part, and the part below.
"But it's good because then more countries can play a EURO, experience this and can make it a translation also to the younger age categories. That's really important."
Petra Blazek (AUT) - goalkeeper
On their preparation:
"Soon it will start, it's only three days left until the first game and we are excited. It's something very big for everybody of us, also for the whole team together that we can play a European championship in Austria. It's like a dream come true."
On the mixture of experience in the team:
"It's a good mix. We have the experienced players who have already played some big tournaments, and we have the young talented players.
"We don't have a star in the team, we don't depend on one player. It's important for us that the team has to shine if we want to go very far in the tournament.
"In some situations me, and I expect from the older players that they will take over the first step if something doesn't work in a game, that they lead the team to success."
On their strengths:
"We have very good team power. We stay together in the good times but also in the bad times. We said before this tournament that we will never give up in no moment.
"It's also important for us that the hall is full, that we have the fans behind our back."
On the first match against Slovakia:
"We know that we need four points to go to Vienna, this is our big dream, so we know that we need the first two points against Slovakia. This is it. We've focused totally for a long time now on this big tournament and it will be very important to start good into the game, and also have the fans at our back and play with self-confidence. We play at home, this is our hall, and we need the two points in the first game."
On a repeat match against Norway in Innsbruck at the EHF EURO Cup:
"Everybody knows what means Norway. They have fantastic players, they have the world's best players, they take in every big event, they play for medals, but we don't keep the focus now on Norway."
Sonja Frey (AUT) - centre back
On Monique Tijsterman joining as head coach:
"She brought a lot of structure, a lot of discipline, and also we needed some fresh air."
On the mixture of experience in the team and what she brings as a player:
"We have a really good mixture of young players, of older players. Of course I have some more experience, I have - not in the European championship, of course, but I have had situations where the pressure was really high and maybe I can share that experience with the girls in the field when it comes to that."
On what she is most looking forward to:
"I just really look from day to day, and I really hope that every match we play and every day we have here we can enjoy, and we can give our best."
On their strengths as a team:
"We have a really good collective. We hold really strong together, and for us it's also really nice that we play at home in Austria. That makes us a little bit stronger."
Katarina Pandža (AUT) - left back
On the friendly match against Germany on Sunday:
"We know Germany's a great team. We did a great job, but we have to stay better in defence and to score the easier goals. But we're on the right way."
On her first European championships:
"It's a big deal for us to play the championship at home on our field. We are a young team mixed with the experienced players. It's the right mixture."
On what she has learned in her first season in the EHF Champions League Women:
"It's my first season this year, it's a great feeling. I have the experience from the games because we had some tough games against great players, like FTC."
