Austrian sisters with Balkan mentality, team spirit and a perfect relationship

Born in Vienna to Croatian parents, both started their careers at Hypo Niederösterreich, but Katarina left for Germany at the age of 17, playing for Metzingen and Nürtingen. In 2023, Katarina headed for Podravka, joining right/centre back Ana, who had arrived from Hypo a year earlier.

Last season, left back Katarina was Podravka’s second-highest EHF Champions League scorer with 70 goals, and this season she is currently the number one for the team with 27 strikes, while her sister Ana is on seven goals.

In the first rounds of the Women's EHF EURO 2026 qualifiers against Israel (39:30) and Greece (29:22), Katarina netted a total of 13 goals in the two victories. On Saturday 25 October, at 16:00 CEST, live on EHFTV, the sisters and their Podravka teammates will face FTC-Rail Cargo Hungaria in the Match of the Week (MOTW).

In this interview, they talk about playing together, the strengths of their club and their Balkan mentality.

eurohandball.com: How does it feel for two sisters to play together at club and national team levels?

Katarina: It is a great opportunity for both of us to play together on the club level and in the national team. Since we were teammates in the youth national team, we know how it feels, and it is definitely a lot of fun. There was only a short break, when I played in Germany.

Ana: It is an honour and a pleasure to play on the same team as my sister, as it is not a given fact. In the club, it works perfectly. In the national team, I hope to get more playing time, but this will come, I am sure. We know each other so well, we know what the other does on court, so we profit and the team profits.

Katarina: Though we do not play next to each other, we know exacly how we move, we support and we push each other, we know each other inside and out.

Ana: And of course, we really understand each other very well, on and off the court.

eurohandball.com: Do you criticise each other more, as you are sisters?

Katarina: Maybe yes, as sometimes we are more critical of our performances than our coach. But in general, that time of criticism goes quite quickly — and both of us can stand the criticism of the other quite well.

Ana: We never take it personally, it is only about handball, not more, not less.

eurohandball.com: Is handball also the main subject in your private life?

Katarina: Definitely not! We do not live in the same flat, and if we meet outside of handball, there is much more to talk about. Handball is in the training hall or at matches, and private life is completely without handball.

eurohandball.com: Was your elder sister your role model in your younger days, Ana?

Ana: Of course, I could learn so much from Katarina, I copied many things from her.

eurohandball.com: Since 2023 you have been together at Podravka — how do you rate the development of each other and the club?

Katarina: We really fit well in the team, and the way our team is constantly going up. The start of the new season was really good, mainly in the EHF Champions League, as in the Croatian league we do not have opponents that big. We took five points from the first three matches, but then we were beaten by CSM. But overall, we are really satisfied right now.

eurohandball.com: This time last year, Podravka were the surprise package of the EHF Champions League Women. What makes the team so strong?

Katarina: We have no superstar like Henny Reistad in our team, our biggest strength is the team spirit. We fight until the end, we never stop, even if we are down by some goals. Maybe at the start of the last Champions League season, we were underestimated by some teams, but our success was not accidental, as we proved to be strong for the whole season.

Ana: And when you see the close matches in the last and the current season, we always had a low in the second half, but we always came back. We always showed resistance, we always stayed focussed, maybe this is the classic Balkan mentality of our team. Unfortunately, it did not work against CSM.

eurohandball.com: You have Croatian roots, do you also embody this Balkan mentality?

Katarina: Yes, of course, it is a part of us, of our life. We never give up, we are ambitious, we fight our way through, regardless of the challenges.

eurohandball.com: On Saturday, Podravka will host FTC in the MOTW – how do you rate your chances?

Ana: Of course, facing such a strong team will be a tough challenge, but we proved last season and this season that we can cope with all opponents in the Champions League, mainly at home.

Photos © Metz Handball (main), DIENER/Eva Manhart, Anze Malovrh/kolektiff, HC Podravka, Krim Mercator Ljubljana (in-text)