Courtesy: LEN
With a three-goal advantage from the first leg two weeks ago, Szolnok is all set to clinch its first-ever Euro Cup trophy, four years after the team’s Champions League triumph. Fellow Hungarian rival OSC needs a smaller miracle but the team proved that they could be capable of delivering one.
In a thrilling clash a fortnight ago, Szolnok managed to build a massive three goal advantage (14-11) by the end of the first leg in the final though OSC had some fine moments too in the first half of the game.
Back then it seemed to be a mission impossible to beat Szolnok by four goals, let alone to beat the side which had been undefeated till that point in the season. Some days later Champions League title-holder Ferencvaros showed the way for OSC by thrashing Szolnok 7-11 in their league game – and OSC even topped that as they caught Ferencvaros in the last round of the regular season (though was downed by FTC in the first game of the semis last Wednesday 2-7).
Still, it’s a huge challenge for the Budapest based side to claim a big-enough win and clinch the trophy – for which the club has been waiting for much longer than Szolnok. The last time OSC enjoyed European success dates back to 1979 when their legendary team won the Champions Cup and the Super Cup.
Not even coach Daniel Varga was born in that year – and in OSC’s current line-up everyone is yet to win some European silverware in club competitions. On the other end, Szolnok’s Serbian stars were already part of several Champions League victories (Filip Filipovic 3 times, Dusko Pijetlovic 2 times), and coach Zivko Gocic was in the water when Szolnok clinched the trophy in 2017 (Viktor Nagy and David Jansik were also part of the show four years ago). It happened in Budapest – and now the return leg is to played in the Hungarian capital too.
Euro Cup, Final – Return leg 16.00 OSC Budapest (HUN) v Szolnoki Dozsa (HUN) – First leg: 11-14