Handball In thoughts of Portner: SCM in the cup final against Melsungen
Magdeburg’s goalkeeper Sergey Hernandez saved ten shots in the win against the Füchse in the first half alone. photo
© Marius Becker/dpa
When it comes to the Magdeburg Cup success, a goalkeeper dominates the debate – and it’s not Nikola Portner. The big outsider awaits in the final on Sunday, shocking Flensburg in the semi-finals.
Sergey Hernandez clenched his fists and enjoyed every second in front of the red and green Magdeburg fan block. Later, the goalkeeper smiled embarrassedly at his teammates’ praises.
With a brilliant performance and a total of 15 saves, the Spaniard temporarily silenced the doping fuss surrounding Nikola Portner and paved the way for SC Magdeburg to reach the final of the DHB Cup. “Fantastic. I don’t have to say anything more about the performance today,” praised SCM coach Bennet Wiegert of his goalkeeper.
The Elbe city team beat the Bundesliga leaders from Berlin 30:25 (14:10) in the semi-finals and will play against MT Melsungen on Sunday (3:35 p.m./ARD and Dyn) for the third cup title in their club’s history. With success, the Champions League winner could take the first step towards a treble.
The Melsungers shocked the favored Flensburg team with 33:28 (16:11) and can dream of their first ever cup title. The man of the match was once again a goalkeeper in Nebojsa Simic. The Montenegrin parried a total of ten shots from Flensburg, which, like last year, failed in the semi-finals. Melsungen’s national player Timo Kastening also showed a strong performance again after disappointing weeks.
A win for Portner
It was clear that a Magdeburg goalkeeper would dominate the headlines on the final weekend – but Hernandez? Until kick-off in front of 20,000 spectators, the debate about Portner, who was provisionally suspended after a positive doping test, floated like an invisible veil through the Cologne arena. “We would have liked to have concentrated more on Berlin. That was super, super intense for everyone involved,” reported Wiegert about the past few days.
The SCM professionals also rated the victory in the explosive eastern derby against the capital club as a victory for Portner. “Sure, we did it for him too. We know that he is sitting at home and watched the game too,” said national player Lukas Mertens. Berlin’s world handball player Mathias Gidsel paid respect to his opponent: “They deserved to win. They clearly won the goalkeeper duel.”
Magdeburg gets off to a sensational start
The SCM quickly took a 6-0 lead against nervous foxes. It was only after almost eleven minutes that world handball player Gidsel released the capital club, which then fought its way into the game and first reduced it to 4:7 and later to 19:20. The fact that the encounter didn’t turn out completely was due to Hernandez’s continued impressive performance. Berlin, on the other hand, acted too sleepily in many phases. “The start was devastating. We missed a lot of chances,” said Füchse sports director Stefan Kretzschmar.
In the second semi-final, the outsider from Melsungen surprised with his fast-paced game. At the same time, MT keeper Simic thwarted numerous attacks. “We have to beat Flensburg once. I’ve been in Melsungen for seven years now and we haven’t managed it once,” the 31-year-old said before the game. After the break, the Hessians extended their lead to eight goals and finished the game confidently.
dpa
#Subjects
