Adama Keita: 'Be ready for Szeged'

On Saturday evening, Paris Saint-Germain Handball played their final pre-season friendly, away to Chartres (25-31). Jesus Gonzalez, Adama Keita and Vincent Gérard spoke about the win looked ahead to the first official match of the season, against Szeged on Thursday evening.

Jesus Gonzalez (Paris Saint-Germain Handball assistant coach):
"All the players were able to take part in the match, which is very important. In terms of how played, though, we missed a lot of shots... We have to improve in this area. We need to play faster, especially during power plays. But it was the final match of our pre-season, so I know it's not easy for the players. I think that as soon as the official matches start, we will be better. It all starts in Szeged! We know it's an important match."

Adama Keita (Paris Saint-Germain Handball left-winger):
"It wasn't the best of our matches, but we still have some automatisms to develop. We have to be ready for Szeged, but first we still have some things to improve. We've been getting stronger throughout the pre-season. There weren't a lot of friendly matches, so we had less time to get up to speed. Especially after six months without playing! But we have been getting back in to the swing of things since the beginning of August."

Vincent Gérard (Paris Saint-Germain Handball goalkeeper):
"The two halves were very different. The first one was very satisfying, even though we missed a few chances. The second one was a bit weaker from our point of view... In a high-stakes match, you could say that we won, but today it was all about preparation and over the second 30 minutes, it was a draw - because of our offensive failures. We hope it will be a wake-up call before the big match in Szeged. We've finished our pre-season, so let's get serious!"

(Credits: J. Azouze/PSG)