Modest optimism in Fyllingen

Anders Fältnäs was head coach of HSV Hamburg and of Danish top team AaB Håndbold as well as assistant coach of Sweden. Now he is head coach of Norwegian champion Fyllingen Håndboll and he prepares his team against Austrian champions A1 Bregenz and Serbian title holder RK Partizan Dunav Osaguranje. The Qualification Group 3 will take place this weekend with Norwegian home advantage as the group is going to be played in Norway´s second largest city, Bergen.

Eurohandball.com talks to Fältnäs who has been coaching Fyllingen for three years now.

Eurohandball.com: How do you see your team´s chances in the qualification group?

Anders Fältnäs: 50-50. Obviously, it will be an advantage for us to play at home, and I find neither Bregenz nor Partizan as strong as in the past. All in all, I think we have good possibilities to go on to the group stage.

Eurohandball.com: What would it mean for Fyllingen and for Norwegian club handball to qualify for the group stage?

Anders Fältnäs: It would mean a lot – not only for Fyllingen, never in the Champions League before, but also for Norwegian club handball in general. It would get a gigantic boost in case we succeed – not least considering the group we would have. (Group C with Ciudad Real, HSV Hamburg, RK Osaguranje Zagreb, FCK Håndbold and Swedish champions Allingsås, ed.)

Eurohandball.com: How much do you know about your two opponents in the qualification group?

Anders Fältnäs: I know quite a lot about Bregenz and much less about Partizan. However, as I said before, I consider both teams to a bit weaker than they used to be. I know that Partizan have a very young squad where quite a lot of players were born in 1988, 1989 and 1990. I also know that Bregenz have recently lost some of their best players.

Eurohandball.com: Your team also lost a prominent player, Norwegian international Thomas Drange left for the Danish top team FCK Håndbold. What does this mean for you?

Anders Fältnäs: It means something, of course, as Thomas was a great goal scorer. His experience was important for many of our young players. However, we have to realise that the best players in Norway will probably always leave for Denmark, Germany and Spain and in the meantime we signed a fine Icelandic right back to replace Drange. I really do not think we are much weaker than last season.