Equal finals

“It was one of the greatest moments of my life,” Viborg pivot Anja Althaus said about the moment her club reached the Champions League Final against Valcea.The German international is extremely happy with her life in Denmark. She talks to Eurohandball.com before the finals against Győr. If she wins the final with Viborg, Althaus will be the second German player to win the women’s CL title after Grit Jurack who did it in 2006 with Viborg.

Eurohandball.com: This will be your first CL Final. How do you feel?

Althaus: It’s impressive! One of my dreams will come true with these finals. After the second match against Valcea we felt so great; it was absolutely fascinating. We had a great day in Valcea, but during the match at home not everything went all right. When Valcea had the 15:10 lead I had a strange feeling that this could be the end for us …like last season when we were eliminated by Zvenigorod. But in the end it was pure joy and happiness.

Eurohandball.com: Now you will play against Győr. Are you the favourites?

Althaus: There are no favourites in these finals. These are the two best teams in the world at the moment and we’ll play two very equal matches. As Győr will play the second leg at home we have to get a “big cushion” at the first match on Saturday.

Eurohandball.com: Your club has just reached the Danish finals very easily. Is this important for your confidence?

Althaus: Yes, we played a great season in Denmark and a great season in the Champions League. We only lost two matches during the whole competition against Krim in the group phase and against Hypo in the main round. I hope we will have enough confidence to win the finals.

Eurohandball.com: This role of Viborg in Denmark and in Europe is actually quite surprising as your top star, Bojana Popovic, has been injured since the group phase.

Althaus: We were shocked at first, but after we made a lot of changes. And everything went well. Bojana is a world class player, but we a lot of world class players in our team such as Grit Jurack, who took a lot of responsibility.