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In an exclusive interview, France’s handball start Nikola Karabatic, spoke to Qatar2015 during the Super Globe Championship 2014. |
Karabatic is one of the most successful handball players of the last decade. The 30-year-old Frenchman, born in the Serbian city of Nis, was the 2007 IHF World Handball Player of the Year and seven times the Most Valuable Player or All-Star team member at major events. With the French national team he was twice Olympic champion (2008, 2012), two times a World champion (209, 2011) and three times a European champion (2006, 2010, 2014).
After winning the IHF Super Globe in Doha for the second time, Karabatic talked exclusively to www.qatarhandball2015.com about handball in Qatar, his anticipation of the 2015 World Championship in Doha and his hopes and dreams for the upcoming season.
Q: Congratulation for your second straight trophy at the IHF Super Globe. Did you expect to be successful with FC Barcelona in Doha again?
Nikola Karabatic: At first I have to say that the IHF Super Globe was a brilliantly organised event with handball on the highest level. I believe we were the best team and took the trophy well-deserved, but all non-European opponents gave us a hard fight in a great arena.
Q: In January you will return to Doha with the French national team for the 2015 World Championship. What are your general impressions on the preparations of the pinnacle event?
NK (smiles): At first I hope that in January the temperatures are a little bit lower than now. Qatar has deserved to organise this World Championship. They invest a lot in sport, in handball and in the infrastructure – and they even invest outside their country to develop handball and sport as the sponsor of the Paris St. Germain team or by the sports channel beInSport, located in Paris too. The arenas in Qatar are brilliant, the accommodation for teams is exceptional, the Qatari people show a great hospitality. So my biggest hope for the organisers is that they manage to have full arenas throughout the whole World Championship, that they can activate fans from all over the world – as then we will see a perfect tournament.
France are currently reigning European and Olympic champions, but missed a chance to defend their World Championship titles 2009 and 2011 titles when getting eliminated by Croatia in the 2013 World Champions quarter-final.
Q: Can France win in Doha?
NK: It’s our clear goal to win the gold medal in Qatar, as it’s been our target for years to be on top of all competitions. Between 2008 and 2012 we took nearly all available titles: at the Olympic Games, World Championships and European championships. In January 2012, when we played a really weak European Championship in Serbia, missing the semi-finals, a lot of people said: ‘The Golden Generation is dead, it’s over for France.’ Seven months later we were gold medallists at the London Olympic Games. In January 2013, when we lost the World Championship quarter-final in Spain, again they declared the French team for dead. So it was interesting so see all the reaction after we had played an extra-ordinary 2014 European Championship including beating host Denmark in an extra-ordinary final. So you see the tides turn quite fast in international handball. We will prepare intensely for Qatar 2015 and hope to go all the way.
