Svan ready to make more surprises

Danish handball fans really had reason to celebrate recently. Only two weeks ago their national team arrived home from Norway with the European Championship trophy – the first title ever for Danish men’s handball. On Sunday GOG Svendborg TGI celebrated a historic win against mighty FC Barcelona.

Monday people were still discussing, what really happened this crazy Sunday afternoon in Odense, when GOG managed to turn a 24-17 Barcelona lead with 21 minutes left into a 35-33 win.

One of the key players in GOG´s breathtaking finish was Lasse Svan Hansen, one of the fastest players in Danish handball these days. The 24-year old right winger, who is currently number three on the Champions League top scorer list, scored spectacular goals one after the other in the decisive phase of the match. Eurohandball.com talks to him.

Eurohandball.com: What was the turning point at the Barcelona match in the last 20 minutes?

Lasse Svan Hansen: In the second half we managed to speed up our attacking play. We forgot about this in the second half of the first period and this allowed Barcelona to wait for us with organised defence. As the second half progressed, however, we played more quickly and at the end the Barcelona players seemed tired, while we were still able to run fast. As we were 7 goals down, we agreed to never give up and you have to admit that we did not.

Eurohandball.com: Was it surprising for you that you were the physically stronger team?

Lasse Svan Hansen: No, not really. We are a very fast team in general and when we played against the other Spanish team, Portland San Antonio in the first group stage, they also got tired with our fast attacking play. If the pace in our attack drops as it did in the first half, they prevail physically. We can score by playing fast all the time.

Eurohandball.com: Most teams would probably give up being 7 goals down against Barcelona. Why did you still believe in victory? 

Lasse Svan Hansen: When we were 7 goals down we agreed that we would definitely not give up. Probably no one believed that we have a chance before the match, and maybe we did not believe in a victory either. But already when the group was drawn, we promised each other that we would at least try to ‘tease’ the other teams on home court and I do not see why we should not be able to do so again.

Eurohandball.com: What does this victory mean for Group 4?

Lasse Svan Hansen: I really do not know right now. I do not think that defeating Barcelona makes us favourites all of a sudden. It gives us a great position in the group and after two incredibly poor matches in the league, I really hope this was a turning point for us.