CSM Bucharest wins Champions League

Romanian handball champions CSM Bucharest on Sunday won the Champions League

Leyla Cheamil, 09.05.2016, 13:43

It was a fantastic weekend for Romanian handball! Romanian champions CSM Bucharest made history on Sunday evening, grabbing a hard-won victory against the Hungarian side Gyor in the Champions League final. Upon their first appearance this season in Champions League, CSM won the most sought-after inter-club trophy, after an electrifying game with two periods of extra time and a penalty shootout to decide the winner.

Seen as underdogs, CSM pulled an impressive performance in the semis, Kim Rasmussens trainees eliminating Vardar Skopje of Macedonia.

In the final, our handballers fought tooth and nail to secure the win against Gyor, final score 29-26. The two sides seemed evenly matched throughout the game, which had a few turning points, keeping the crowds electrified.

Worth mentioning is Isabel Gulldens stellar performance, CSMs player scoring 14 goals. Gullden was also declared the seasons top scorer with 108 goals and MVP. Discipline and motivation were key to securing victory for CSM. Playing for CSM on Sunday were Pessoa, Grubisic, Iordache, Gullden, Curea, Rodrigues, Jorgernsen, Varzaru, Bazaliu, Bradeanu, Torstensson, Nan, Vetkova, Martin, Manea and Fisker. CSM fans sang the name of Aurelia Bradeanu, the player who scored the winning goal for their team. Here is what the player said after the match:

Aurelia Bradeanu: “Ever since the beginning of this tournament we trusted our odds and were confident we would win. We felt it was our time to win. I really wanted to win this trophy.

Another CSM player, Cristina Varzaru, said Sundays win comes as a reward for a year of hardships, successes and failures:

Cristina Varzaru: “I am happy. Its a great achievement for Romanian handball, for this club. I hope this feeling will last, because what we feel when we lift a trophy, when we kiss our medals, is unlike any other feeling. Its our greatest achievement this year, when weve had ups and downs. We were at our lowest several times, and we were criticized for it. We picked ourselves up and today we ended up lifting this trophy above our heads. Its been very difficult, it was a final in every sense of the word.

CSM Bucharest thus becomes the third Romanian club to win Champions League, after Stiinta Bacau in the 1960-1961 season and Rapid Bucharest in the 1963-1964 season.