About nine months ago Sergey Mark Kosorotov became the owner of the first in the history Golden ball of handball, a special prize for the best handball player of the year in Russia and Belarus, and almost immediately rumors spread that the left back would leave Hungarian Veszprem and return to Polish Wisla Plock, where he had turned into a notable for European standards player.
Almost four months ago these rumors turned into facts. Actually, Handballfast has bombarded Kosorotov since then for another interview. But even a long-standing acquaintance (it turned out that I know Sergey from childhood and we are on first-name basis) couldn’t help — nuances of the transfer had to be settled first, then there were some private details not for publicity…
And the other day Sergey Mark played great in the Champions League against Magdeburg (8 goals!), got to the symbolic team of the tour, scored 6 goals in the match of the Polish championship with Zaglebie Lubin and answered a call from Russia.
- First, I would like to ask a more general question: how do you assess the start of the season? And now I understood that it would be more interesting to know what do you feel after that particular game with Magdeburg. Indeed, it looked great and 8 goals to the current owner of the title in away match is awesome, but…
— Exactly. Maybe, we played well, but we lost. Although we lost to the winner of the summer Final Four and one ball only and in the final seconds it was in our hands.. But still we lost. And it’s hard to name the mean reason. Recalling my feelings during the match itself, it seemed that we played too carefully. Or, probably, we didn't have enough strength. I don’t know.
— Did you rewatch the match?
— I didn’t have time. We literally travelled through the night from Thursday to Friday by bus from Magdeburg, we had rest as much as possible and we already played in the Poland championship on Saturday and had a workout on Sunday morning.
However, I can state without rewatching that we had played enough for a draw. And it’s the most annoying thing — we could have leveled the score, that I could have, though finishing was ours as well, but the goalkeeper of Magdeburg Hernandez also hit!
— And I made the main conclusion by the results of the game: if you play with the de cure best European club, which, in addition, had recently beaten Barcelona in away match, as equals, it means that Wisla is an obvious candidate for the Final Four, isn’t it?
— Ah, if it had been so simple… Not, it’s incorrect to think that way. It’s just the beginning of the season. It’s too early to make conclusions. Some teams had many transfers, other teams had few, coaches changed, some teams are getting used to play together… And we need to focus on other things: I can’t say that I’m pleased with this game. There were a lot of mistakes.
— Thus, the groups in the Champions League turned out to be uneven. It’s unclear in that group, which team will reach the playoffs, as if any team can slip up, you have outsiders like Zagreb and Europharm, so you will definitely be in the top-6. But it’s even more difficult to qualify to the top-2 when there are Barcelona and Magdeburg. Or are you aimed exactly at this?
— You ask this question and I realize that I haven’t even thought about the standings yet. But I’ll repeat: it’s early, things will change and after all, what’s the point in it? When I played for Veszprem, these words were repeated two consecutive years: "It’s one hundred percent the team for the Final Four!" I always stopped: "Oh, it usually ends very badly..." As it was thought up long time ago not by me: "Don’t buy green bananas". And concerning the current playoffs, right now I can say only one thing (smiling): "Give us Veszprem!"
— I’ve heard that the atmosphere in the Hungarian superclub, so to say, is far from perfect, there is no doubt now. And can you tell me how did you leave the club, how were the negotiations held, when did negotiations begin?
— I saw that the situation was that there were many players in the team, in particular, on my position of the left back. Of course, I came up to the coach (Xavier Pascual — Handballfast), told him how everything looked like on his part… Let me explain that I didn’t talk about personal playing time or spot on the court, but how exactly further work would look like. He answered, it became clear that we see things differently — no more question!
Indeed, I had a year left on my contract with the Hungarians. But after our conversation I understood that I had to look for options. Among others, I remembered that Xavi Sabate had called. I called him, we communicated. Now it was up to Wisla.
The only thing that surprised me was when the director of Veszprem (Csaba Batha — Handballfast) said that the club had earned on me. Though they simply promised to let go. And overall it looked strange when everyone knew about the transfer but it wasn’t allowed to talk about it — a Polichinelle’s secret.
— When you were a player of Veszprem, you told me that you felt nostalgic upon your arrival in Plock: "And when we arrived and the driver of the club bus picked us up and while driving through the city and when I entered the arena where a match was played..." And what about now?
— Yes, it’s clear that there are a lot of familiar places and friends in the team and in the city. Especially since they called me constantly. Obviously, Dima Zhitnikov called me more than anyone else, but it turned out that he is no longer in Wisla, on the contrary, he moved to Hungary, Tatabanya. Who was delighted the most of those I played with a few years ago? Honestly, it’s hard to single out someone. The microclimate in the team is really good. We communicate normally with everyone, including newcomers I haven’t known before. Melvyn Richardson (a French right back — Handballfast), is a great guy, as well as Torbjorn Bergerud (a Norwegian goalkeeper — Handballfast). Of course, I found the common language with a Belarusian Kirill Samoylo most quickly in every sense (smiling). It’s great that he is also here!
— What about the language, do you remember Polish?
— Even if I forgot something, I quickly remembered it. After all, the Slavic languages are similar in many ways. Hungarian is certainly much more difficult than Polish, so there is an obvious advantage in my return in this respect. Yes, it wasn’t so required in the team, we spoke English or Balkan in Veszprem, but there were still inconveniences…
— By the way, is it more comfortable to live in Veszprem or in Plock?
— For my family it’s more convenient to live in Plock, of course. Just because we live in the countryside here, we have more space and breathe the fresh air. And above all, there are no neighbors! Not to say that we had big problems with them. But still, when you live in the same house through the wall with another family, it sometimes causes discomfort — situations may be different.
How did Wisla fans meet me? Probably, there’s nothing special that I can tell you, common phrases: «It’s great that you are back!» and all that sort of things.
— And what did you tell Csaba when you met him? And, by the way, what changed in your game? I noticed in the match with Magdeburg that you also defended, as it had already been in Veszprem…
— Yes, he already knew, so to say, my input and among other things he was aware that I’m in the second defense. Moreover, the coach informed that I would be one of the captains this season.
— How could you interpret it? Vice-captain?
— Probably, it can be formulated this way. Michal Daszek is our main captain. But there are four more players who are involved in such group of captains. They are Gergo Fazekas, Melvyn Richardson, Torbjorn Bergerud and me. It’s an extra motivation. I won’t say that I wouldn’t have motivation without it, but such moments are pleasant and emphasize the status, so to speak.
— In conclusion, let’s get back to the game. We’ve already talked about the Champions League, there’s no sense discussing the championship of Poland, since you confidently beat everyone before the meeting with Kielce… How disappointed were you when you ceded to the same Kielce at the start of the season in the Super Cup? Or was it a friendly match?
— I was personally disappointed that we lost. Especially since it seemed to me that we played poorly, I don’t know how it looked from the outside. I didn’t spend much time on the site but I am dissatisfied with myself as well.
Moreover, at the end I had a great chance to bring us victory. We came up with a decision with partners on the fly, I was lead to a throw. The position was good, the goalkeeper didn’t see: take a ball ten more times and sore! With closed eyes! And I didn't score that day. And eventually we lost in the penalty shootout.
But positive moments can also be found here, I was entrusted the final attack for the first time. Like in the match with Magdeburg later. I hope to be entrusted in the future. But it’s time to implement it…
Photo: HC Wisla Plock press
