Champions League THW Kiel celebrates handball miracle and “a magical night”
Kiel’s Rune Dahmke celebrates after the win against Montpellier. photo
© Axel Heimken/dpa
After the first leg defeat, THW Kiel has almost made it to the final tournament in the premier class. Neither the coach nor the players can believe what happens next. Will there now be a German duel?
When Tomas Mrkva parried the last throw, THW Kiel celebrated the miracle in a magical Champions League night. In complete disbelief, national player Rune Dahmke sank to the ground after the fantastic comeback and fell exhausted around the neck of captain Domagoj Duvnjak.
Neither coach Filip Jicha nor his players could believe at first that reaching the semi-finals, which was actually thought to be impossible, had actually become a reality. “Today was a magical night,” said Jicha after the emotional hellish ride.
With the 31:21 against the top French club Montpellier, the German handball record champion made up for the 30:39 defeat in the quarter-final first leg and is now going to the final tournament in Cologne (June 8th/9th).
Magdeburg also took part in the final tournament
Handball Germany can hope for its second premier class triumph in a row, because for the first time in ten years the Bundesliga will have two clubs in the showdown again. In front of the Kiel team, defending champion SC Magdeburg made it into the semi-finals in a seven-meter thriller. FC Barcelona and the Danish top club Aalborg Handbold also qualified.
When Dahmke found his voice again, he tried to put the past 60 minutes into words. “I have no idea how that was possible. This sport is absolutely sick,” said the left winger, who spent his entire professional career at THW and still summed up: “It’s absolutely crazy what happened here. I still have something like that never experienced.”
Captain Duvnjak, who has been playing for THW for ten years, also found few words: “I’ve been at the club for a long time. But I’ve very rarely experienced an atmosphere like this.” The atmosphere may have been exceptional, but the players’ performance was even more so. Backcourt player Harald Reinkind said: “Since I’ve been here, I’ve never seen so many players fight so hard.”
“Great recognition” for coach Jicha
The long-time dominator is going through a difficult season. Kiel failed in the DHB Cup in October against HSG Wetzlar. The “Zebras” are also lagging behind expectations in the Bundesliga. The German championship and also the Champions League qualification are long out of reach. The Final Four of the premier class was practically the last opportunity to save this season.
“It was the biggest possible setback that we lost the first leg by nine goals,” said Dahmke. It took a day or two to process the disappointment and look forward again. “My great appreciation goes to Filip Jicha, who got us out of there and built us up day by day, so that we gave everything again in the second leg. That was only possible as a team,” explained Dahmke.
Kiel sets itself milestones
A key to success was that the team and coach didn’t always think about the nine-goal deficit from the first leg, but instead set themselves milestones. “Our goal was to win by two goals every 12th minute,” explained Duvnjak. This wouldn’t always have worked: “But mentally it helped to think step by step.”
What is certain is that Jicha’s approach was the right one. As he left the hall, he euphorically high-fived the audience and then banged on the door with joy. “I’m happy and proud of my players. In the end, hard work pays off. We had such strong belief that we could do it,” said the former world handball player, who won the Champions League twice as a player with the THW.
dpa
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