Monday, April 27, 2026, 12:19 p.m
883 readings
Cristina Neagu, at the Gala Neagu press conference. Photo: ziare.com
Former handball player Cristina Neagu declared, on Sunday evening, after the victory of the CSM Bucharest formation against Team Esbjerg, score 37-27, that it deserves the qualification in the Final4 tournament of the Champions League, where it can even reach the last act of the competition.
Neagu, who watched his former team’s victory from the stands, mentioned that he does not regret retiring last summer.
“I talked to the girls, I wrote them messages after the tour match. I really felt that this qualification is possible after the Denmark match. I’m very happy. Now being in the stands, you think that I would have liked to be on the field and get this qualification. But I have no regrets. I consider that as long as I played I gave everything I had for the team and the club. It matters a lot. You see how much a coach matters, he came “Bojana who changed the face of the team. She qualified for the quarterfinals. So, I have no regrets. I’m really happy with how they played in the second part of the season,” she said.
“Qualifying is something extraordinary for Romanian handball. CSM Bucharest is returning to the Final4 after many years of trying. And once there, anything is possible. If you have a bit of luck and don’t meet Gyor in the semi-finals, you have a very good chance of playing in the final. For me, it’s an indescribable joy, I can’t even imagine what’s in the girls’ hearts now. It’s less important if I get to Budapest. What’s important is that the girls reached the Final4. They must be happy there too not to play under pressure, because anything is possible”, added the former handball player.
After 8 years spent in the jersey of the CSM Bucharest team, Cristina Neagu admitted that it is more difficult to experience a match in the stands than on the field.
“I experienced the match with great emotions. When you’re on the pitch we don’t feel these things, we don’t hear the fans, we don’t hear the noise, we only focus on what we have to do. But in the stands it’s much more difficult. Now I also understand a little the madness of the fans when they were angry and criticized us. That’s because it’s much harder from the stands”, she explained.
CSM Bucharest qualified for the Final4 tournament of the Champions League at women’s handballafter defeating the Danish team Team Esbjerg, with a score of 37-27 (19-14), on Sunday, in the “Ioan Kunst-Ghermănescu” Multipurpose Hall in the Capital, in the second leg of the quarter-finals.
The Romanian champion played a splendid match and qualified “en fanfare” among the four best teams on the continent, after losing narrowly in the round, with 25-26.
CSM Bucharest, who won the trophy in 2016, last qualified for the Final4 tournament of the competition in 2018.
The Final4 tournament will take place on June 6 and 7, in Budapest.
