Gros: “I never could have dreamed I would get here”

The Brest Bretagne Handball right back wrote her name into the history books on Saturday night, netting her 1,000th goal in Europe's top flight in a 37:25 victory against Krim OTP Group Mercator in Ljubljana. It was her seventh goal of the evening, coming at minute 43 for 28:16, and it put a wide smile on her face as she ran back into defence.

“Before the match, I was thinking how seven goals are a lot to score and to reach. You never know what can happen and how things will go. But, of course, I wanted it to happen. My whole family was there, friends, and somehow it felt special for it to happen in that match. I'm really, really happy that everything came together,” says Gros.

𝗛𝗜𝗦𝗧𝗢𝗥𝗬 𝗪𝗥𝗜𝗧𝗧𝗘𝗡 𝗔𝗧 𝗛𝗢𝗠𝗘 🇸🇮 Ana Gros joins the 1,000-goal club in the EHF Champions League. 🏆#ehfcl #clw #handball pic.twitter.com/UOygYX4UvT

— EHF Champions League (@ehfcl) February 21, 2026

The script nobody could have written

The setting for writing history could not have been more perfect — Ljubljana, a place where she came as a little girl from Velenje to Krim's academy, the club where she played in Krim's senior team for the first time at 14, the club with whom she had her first EHF Champions League minutes and the place that launched her professional career.

The emotions ran high and the happiness erupted in Ljubljana. She could have reached this milestone earlier, but an injury sidelined her for a few matches earlier this season. As if everything was leading to this moment.

“I get goosebumps when I think about it, because I honestly don't know how all of this could have lined up so perfectly. Because of an injury, I missed some of the matches and it seems like everything had to happen this way for that 1,000th goal to come in Ljubljana. If someone had told this script, I think you would say no, that can't really happen,” says Gros.

Adding another layer of emotion was Tamara Mavsar as her opponent, another Slovenian international, who is retiring at the end of the season — the game on Saturday marked the end of her journey in the EHF Champions League.

“She is a really, really close friend of mine and because of her, I was also very emotional. We started together from the youth categories and worked our way up, and this was her last match. I'm so happy that everything came together in that match, and at home,” Gros admits.

With her milestone, Gros' name now stands alongside Andrea Lekic, Jovanka Radicevic, Cristina Neagu and Anita Görbicz — and, Ana has played alongside all of them, except Neagu.

“When I truly see all those names, it's just such an incredibly good feeling. And somehow it's an honour for me to be in that group and among those players, all those legends of our sport. I'm truly grateful that I was able to achieve that goal in my career. I can say I never could have even dreamed I would get there,” says Gros.

Memories live on

Since her first EHF Champions League moments, Gros has played for Krim OTP Group Mercator, Thüringer HC, CSKA, Györi Audi ETO KC, Metz Handball and Brest Bretagne Handball — with France being home for more than half of those 1,000 goals.

And in another moment that seems almost too good to be true, her very first goal in the EHF Champions League came with Krim away against Metz on 24 October 2009, when she was only 18 years old, making her mark on the biggest stage.

“I don't remember it, unfortunately, and if I hadn't read an article about where I scored my first goal, I wouldn't even have remembered it was against Metz. I honestly completely forgot about that. But when I think about it, that was in Metz, a club where I also truly achieved a lot and a club that also gave me a lot, it's once again another really nice sign and connection,” adds Gros.

1,000 goals in 16 seasons at the highest level is a lot to think about. While the first goal has been forgotten, others have not, and the Slovenian international — who scored a record 767 goals in 159 matches for Slovenia’s national team — points out two EHF Champions League goals that always come to her mind.

“First, it's a goal for Brest away against Györ in the group phase, when I scored right in the last seconds from the left side for a draw. I don't think I will ever forget that one.

“And then with Metz against Györ again, in the first game of the quarter-finals, scoring for the win. The happiness of winning that match, it just stays with you — even though in the end we didn't qualify for the FINAL4, as they beat us in the second game,” says the two-time EHF Champions League Women best right back and the 2020/21 competition's top scorer.

WATCH: Ana Gros equalises to save the point for @BBH_Officiel! 🔥#deloehfcl #showtimeforchampions pic.twitter.com/PIp0jTrZeu

— EHF Champions League (@ehfcl) January 23, 2021

Above all those goals stands her EHF Champions League winner's title, something Gros has always dreamed about — an achievement made with Györ in 2024.

“I chased that trophy for a long time, and when I finally succeeded, it was like — phew, finally. That feeling, that I had achieved what I had always wanted most in my career. That trophy is what, at the end of the day, means the most to me in my career. All those individual awards also mean a lot, but in the end, it's the trophy,” explains Gros.

A perfect end

At the end of the 2025/26 season, Gros will retire as a player, closing the book on an incredible career. The decision did not come overnight.

“I had been thinking about it for a while already. I mean, it was more a question of whether to do one more or to finish now. In the end, somehow I felt that the time had come, that maybe handball is no longer the priority it was all these years, that family, house, home, all of that, somehow to start a new, different life, to enjoy other things, became a new priority.

“I'm proud of my career, of everything I have achieved, that I have fulfilled all those dreams I had, and that, alongside all of that, I have remained more or less healthy. That was also important to me and I hope until the end there won't be any bigger injuries. And that I was truly able to live my dream to the fullest,” says Gros.

It is a career that has left a mark far beyond just the court. Ana Gros is a Respect Your Talent (RYT) ambassador, and the right back has always had time to be a voice for women's handball, and from a little girl looking up to the role models, she became one.

“It's hard to describe when you see all those faces of little girls who see you and who follow you and who call out to you along the court. That is, at the end of the day, what leaves a true mark. That someone watched me and that maybe, because of that, they will continue with handball and follow their dreams.

“Sport and handball in general have given me a lot: friendships, discipline, work ethic and everything that sport gives you. Alongside all that, of course, those relationships that last forever, and for that I am the most grateful,” explains Gros.

With Brest already through to the quarter-finals as group B leaders, after losing only three times in the group phase, there is still plenty to play for and one final dream to pursue — to end it with another EHF Champions League title. For Gros, reaching the Raiffeisen Bank EHF FINAL4 2026 would be her fourth time in Budapest, and the sixth appearance among the top four teams.

“There's no more beautiful way to end a career. I remember Stine (Oftedal) and how she had a beautiful farewell with the Champions League. That would truly be a dream, and I will do everything to help the team get there. We have a chance and once you are at the FINAL4, anything can happen,” concludes Gros.

Main and feature photos © Jure Erzen / kolektiff