Duel among friends

When the draw for the Last 16 of the VELUX EHF Champions League had been completed at the VELUX headquarters in Horsholm, Denmark, representatives of THW Kiel and Wisla Plock were happy with the outcome. It was Kiel’s wish to face the Polish champions, and even the Poles were glad – because both clubs know each other well and have had a common partnership since the last season.

Both clubs are part of the Wisla initiative "Handball Friends in a United Europe". Last summer the two teams came together pre-season – first in Plock, where THW had their first training camp and later on played (and won) the 'Orlen-Cup', and later in Kiel where Orlen Wisla Plock were playing in the 'Unser-Norden-Cup', again won by hosts THW Kiel.

So Plock and Kiel met twice for friendly matches pre-season – and THW won 31:29 in Plock and 26:11 in Kiel.

Orlen Wisla Plock President Andrzej Miszczynski said after the draw: "We have a good connection with Kiel and we have already agreed two matches against them this year (2012) in August - we have a lot of history with them." Only Orlen Wisla coach Lars Walther was a little bit disappointed. "Personally I wanted to play against a Spanish team, as we play THW Kiel so often," he said.

But his President pointed out the advantages of those encounters. "There is no doubt that THW are one of the best teams in the world and it is a great pleasure to play against a team like that – we are just on the way to being a top European handball side, and any match against a great team like this gives us a fantastic opportunity to get better," he explained. "We will do our best to play good handball and promote good discipline in the match. The arena in Plock will be full for this match with over 5,500 spectators."

In official EHF Men's Champions League matches both teams have only met once before – in the Group Stages of the 2005/2006 season. The Poles surprisingly won the first leg at home 32:31, but then were beaten in Kiel 37:22.

And the close friendship of both teams helped to solve a huge THW problem. As the 'Holiday on Ice' event will occupy their arena for the scheduled date of the second leg in the Last 16, Orlen Wisla Plock – in close cooperation with EHF and EHF Marketing – was able to reschedule the match dates. So the first leg at Plock will take place on Wednesday, 14 March, whilst the second leg will be played only four days later (18 March) at Kiel.

Plock qualified for the first time in 16 years for the Last 16 of the EHF Men's Champions League after ranking fourth in Group C below Hamburg, Koper and Metalurg. Kiel won Group D with only one defeat, two draws and seven victories ahead of Kobenhavn, Leon and Montpellier. "This encounter is a good chance to go on all the way to the VELUX EHF FINAL4, but all matches have to be played, even if we are the favourites," THW manager Sabine Holdorf-Schust said after the draw.

The sporting friendship of both clubs even cumulated in a new business relationship of THW, as Wisla's main sponsor Orlen is also THW's partner as of this season – another sign that the friendship will last longer no matter what the results from the Last 16 encounters.