Wednesday, 4 May 2022

EHF European League: Nexe Našice Writes History with Final 4 Spot!

May 4, 2022 - Nexe Našice and GOG drew 37:37 in the return match of the EHF European League quarterfinals and is the first Croatian club to advance to the Final 4 of the prestigious European handball club competition!

Nexe thus wrote the history of Našice, Slavonia, and Croatian handball, achieving this phenomenal success. NEXE drew against the Danish club GOG in the full Phönix Tag Arena in Gudme, and defended the advantage from the first meeting a week ago when they celebrated 32:27.

Nexe played a brilliant 20 minutes, and then missed a lot of opportunities in the last ten or so in the first half. Instead of a convincing lead, they were -2 after 30 minutes of play. Fortunately, this did not leave a mark on their game, which was mostly thanks to the young Dominik Kuzmanović who singlehandedly shattered Gudme's dreams of qualifying for the final tournament. 

 

Nexe Našice opened the match well, easily led 1:3, gained confidence, and controlled the match almost without major difficulties. When Branko Tamše's team took the lead for the first time with three goals, the home coach was forced to ask for a timeout. The first quarter of the match was not yet over. 

Nexe had the answer to GOG's game. Whether it was a quick transition, an attack on full defense, or a threat to take the ball away for a passive attack. The first half had three heroes. Mihailo Radovanović managed to defend against seven home attacks. Halil Jaganjac and Predrag Vejin played with GOG's defense and scored from all possible positions.

Nexe was up by 4 in the 21st minute (13:17). GOG equalized with a 4:0 series in less than four minutes and at the end of the first half was up 22:20. It was the first serious warning for Nexe that the end is still far away.

The second great crisis arose at the beginning of the second half. In less than five minutes, GOG was up by 4 (26:22) and had an attack for five points. Dominik Kuzmanović quickly shattered all hopes, and Nexe had a 0:6 series and returned for the 26:28 advantage.

In the 48th minute, they were up by 4 again (27:31) and ended at 37:37, which means that Nexe secured a spot in the EHF European League Final 4!

Simon Bogetoft Pytlik was brilliant for GOG with 11 goals. Halil Jaganjac scored 12 goals from 16 attempts, which is fantastic for an outside player. Predrag Vejin scored 7, and Marin Jelinić 6 out of 6 attempts.

The EHF European League Final 4 is played on May 28 and 29. The host will be known in the next ten days, as the EHF is waiting to see who will make it to the final tournament. Nexe is also a candidate to host the final tournament.

Source: HRS

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Tuesday, 5 October 2021

RK NEXE Plays in EHF European League Group C!

October 5, 2021 - Handball club NEXE from Našice will play in the EHF European League Group C!

Although the impressions have not yet subsided after the NEXE handball team made up for 6 goals against the Danish club Bjerringbro Silkeborg and qualified for the European League, the future is already being planned in Našice. The European League groups have been drawn in Vienna.

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Slobodan Kadic

NEXE was in the last pot this time. Regardless, the draw could have been better. The Našice club is in group C with the German team Magdeburg, French PAUC, Swedish Savehof, Spanish Logron la Rioja, and Slovenian Gorenje from Velenje. Coach Branko Tamše was most pleased with the latter. Born in Velenje, he became a player at Gorenje and later started a very successful coaching career.

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Slobodan Kadic

"We knew that all groups would be strong, but ours is very difficult with six different styles of play and therefore attractive. There will be everything; I am already looking forward to new matches. And now, slowly, game by game, we will prepare well for as many points as possible. I think the easiest is group D, and group B is like ours. It is what it is!" pointed out Tamše, who, together with his players, will enjoy the victory for a few more days.

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Slobodan Kadic

NEXE begins in the European League Group C on October 19, visiting Provence in Aix against PAUC. Then, they will play at home against Savehof on October 26, a slightly more challenging opponent than last year's Alingsas, which NEXE defeated twice in the European League group last year. Savehof is the current Swedish champion.

NEXE will then make their fourth visit to Magdeburg (November 16). The draw put them in the same group for the second year in a row. Magdeburg went to the very end last season, so they will try to defend their title as European League champs.

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Slobodan Kadic

A week later, NEXE will visit Logrono La Rioja in Spain. They are nominally the third-best club in Spain, behind the European champions Barcelona and Bidasoe Irun, and were knocked out by NEXE last year on their way to the European League.

The first round will close on November 30 against Velenje in Našice, and a week later, NEXE will play in Tamše's hometown, where the team prepared this summer.

Four teams from each group will advance to the round of 16. 

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Wednesday, 24 March 2021

Nexe Našice Loses at Home to Löwen in European League Last 16

March 24, 2021 - The Nexe Našice handball team was defeated in the first match of the EHF European League last 16 at home against German side Rhein-Neckar Löwen 27:25 (13:14).

The Našice club held their own against the favored German side and even had an advantage 15 minutes before the end for 22:21.

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Slobodan Kadic

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Slobodan Kadic

Nexe kept the score even until the last five minutes when Löwen turned the game around and ultimately claimed the victory. 

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Slobodan Kadic

Halil Jaganjac scored seven goals for Nexe, while the best for Löwen was Swede Jerry Tollbring who also scored seven goals. Both goalkeepers were excellent, with Moreno Car recording 12 saves and Andreas Palicka 11.

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Slobodan Kadic

The return match is played in a week in Germany. 

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Wednesday, 24 February 2021

Nexe Našice Handball Team Records Fourth Consecutive Victory in EHF European League

February  24, 2021 - The Nexe Našice handball team achieved their fourth consecutive victory in the EHF European League, defeating CSKA Moscow 32-31 (14-14) on Tuesday in Našice.

The victory was confirmed by Mario Tomić with a goal seven seconds before the end when he sent the ball into the undefended net.

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Slobodan Kadić

With this Nexe victory and the expected defeat of the Swedish team Alingsas away to the leading Magdeburg (36-21), Nexe theoretically secured their spot in the last 16 of the EHF European League's first season.

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Slobodan Kadić

Nexe played a very even match against the Moscow team, who they lost to in November by 11 goals (29-18).

Halil Jaganjac and Janko Kević scored six goals each for the home team, Fran Mileta scored five times, and Dorian Markušić scored four goals. Goalkeeper Moreno Car had 15 saves, and Mihailo Radovanović had two. Ilchenko, Astrashapkin, and Fokin scored five goals each for the Russian side.

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Slobodan Kadić

One round before the end, Nexe is in fourth place with 10 points. CSKA and Montpellier have 10 points each, but with a better goal differential. In first is Magdeburg with 14 points. Alingsas has four points, and the Turkish club Besiktas, which lost all nine games, will not advance to the next round. 

Nexe will play in Montpellier on March 2 in the last round of the group stage.

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