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Catherine Gabriel: two more years in Debrecen

Published: 2023.10.05.

DVSC SCHAEFFLER has extended the contract with its French goalkeeper. The contract, which expires next summer, was extended by another two years.

Catherine Joelle Gabriel transferred to Debrecen from Paris 92 last summer. With her spectacular feats, she quickly stole into the hearts of the fans. In her first season, she had outstanding matches in both the league and the Europa League. For example, the away match against Győr, when she saved more than half of the shots coming at her goal, but the EL match in Kapronca was also memorable, where she saved two sevens in addition to quite a few saves.

In last year’s championship, she had the most saves, 221. According to MKSZ statistics, she saved with 31 percent efficiency, which was the seventh best indicator in NB 1. So far this year, she is at 38 percent in the league, only her performance in the Champions League falls short of expectations, although she will have to perform in a different field there…

The club offered her another two-year contract, which runs until the summer of 2026, and the French player did not think much about whether to accept it.

“There was no question that I would stay in Debrecen, as I feel good here. The employees, fans, sponsors and everyone do a lot to keep the club developing, which is very important to me. We have already achieved a lot together, but the team still has serious goals in the future and I want to be a part of it. I feel that I am in a good place and I can still improve here, as the Hungarian league is one of the strongest in the world. Oh, and one more thing: if I stay here for another two years, maybe I’ll finally manage to learn Hungarian, said Catherine Gabriel with a smile.”

Main facts:
Catherine Gabriel started playing handball in Besancon, France, then played for Nantes from 2018 to 2020, and strengthened the Paris 92 team from 2020 to 2022. Since the summer of 2023, she has been a DVSC SCHAEFFLER handball player. She has appeared in the French national team 23 times so far. At the 2019 World Cup held in Japan, she became the goalkeeper with the best statistics of the tournament, saving 34 of 81 shots, which is an efficiency of 42 percent. She was there as the number three goalkeeper at the 2021 World Cup in Spain, but did not play.

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