Nenadic: Wisla will rise again
Nenadic: Wisla will rise again
Having made a huge impact at Danish side TVIS Holstebro, where he emerged as one of the team’s key players in his two seasons after joining them from Hungary’s Pick Szeged, the Serbian middle back Petar Nenadic has moved on to Polish giants Wisla Plock during the summer break thanks to his impressive performances in the 2011-2012 season.
Wisla, who reached the Last 16 in last season’s VELUX EHF Champions League and lost to eventual winners THW Kiel, are aiming to at least emulate the success or go a step further in next season’s competition if they can make it past the Wildcard Tournament.
Nenadic, who will undoubtedly be a boost to their hopes of doing well, offered is positive about his time in Denmark as well as about his expectations at Wisla.
“I had two exceptional seasons in Denmark, both on the court and off it. I made many friends and I was deeply moved when the entire home crowd treated me to a standing ovation in my last match for Holstebro,” Nedadic said.
“It will stay with me forever but life goes on and I am looking forward to a fresh challenge at Wisla.
"The club has huge ambitions to do well in the Champions League again and in my opinion we will be a stronger team with my compatriot Ivan Nikcevic, who is one of the best wingers in the world, as well as with Croatian goalkeeper Marin Sego, who also joined the club this summer,” he added.
Polish clubs attractive
A growing number of players from the former Yugoslavia, notably Serbia and Croatia, have flocked to leading Polish clubs Wisla and Viva Targi Kielce in the last few years and Nenadic believes the influx is rooted in a fiercely combative Balkan mentality which is highly respected and appreciated by his new club.
“The Polish market has opened up for players from the Balkans because we are widely seen as warriors who will play their hearts out for club and country, hence both Wisla and our traditional rivals in Poland, Viva Kielce, have signed a huge amount of players from our region,” he said.
Serbia at London 2012
Nenadic is one of the players who faces a tough battle to break into Serbia’s squad for the 2012 Olympics in London and he hopes the team will enjoy a podium finish after winning their first major handball honour, a silver medal in the EHF EURO.
“We are all very much looking forward to the new season after the Olympics, where we hope to reproduce the form which saw us win the silver medal on home soil at EHF EURO 2012,” Nenadic said.
“We are still buzzing from the European Championship but we are aware that repeating the feat in London will be much tougher because we have a very difficult Preliminary Pool to negotiate through and getting through to the quarter-finals will be the main priority.”
Serbia have been drawn in the same group with Denmark, Croatia, Spain, Hungary and South Korea while the other group comprises France, Sweden, Iceland, Great Britain, Argentina and Tunisia.
