VARDAR: Cupic, Canellas… - new faces, old ambitions

Timur Dibirov

With two titles and two more finals in five seasons of SEHA League Vardar is League's most successful team. In the season ahead, Macedonian champions, who have reached CL's Last 8 for two years in a row, will be one of the biggest favorites to go all the way.

Things have changed in Jane Sandaski since last year. Team looks somewhat different with defensively important Alem Toskic and Matjaz Brumen leaving the club, Dejan Manaskov and shooters Sergy Gorbok as well as team captain Filip Lazarov. 

However, president Sergy Samsonienko has, with the assistance of coach Raul Gonzales, managed to complete the team and prepare them to go hunting for the throne again. On the left back they will have Aleksandar Dereven who is coming back after his injury, as well as Montengrian Vuko Borozan and extraordinary Spaniard from Kiel- Joan Canellas. New man on the pivot line, where he will join Stoilov, is Brasilian Fereira who Raul sees as an important defensive key. He has also arrived from Kiel but their biggest reinforcement is former Kielce' right winger and Croatian national team player Ivan Cupic.

In addition, they have managed to keep remarkable goalkeepers led by Arpad Sterbik, left-handers Jorge Maqueda and Alex Dujshebaev, playmakers Luka Cindric and Igor Karacic along with right winger Daniil Shishkarev making it perfectly clear that Vardar has an amazing team and that Jane Sandaski will this season probably be an unbeatable fortress.