Boldsen: Enemies for 60 minutes

For three AG Kobenhavn players the quarter-finals against the defending champions of the VELUX EHF Champions League will be an extreme deja-vu experience: Mikkel Hansen, Joachim Boldsen and Kasper Hvidt were all part of the FC Barcelona squad before returning to Denmark – but none of them had won the EHF Champions League with the Catalans. On Friday and the upcoming Saturday they face their former teammates.

Hvidt and Boldsen show their respect, but are also confident to make their way to the  VELUX EHF FINAL4, as they mention on the Official AG Kobenhavn website www.agkbh.dk.

"We play against a team, which is a complete unit. Barcelona work all the time, stand well in defence and play very fast. You can not say that there are one or two players we must take out of the match. We must focus on the game itself,” said Kobenhavn's goalkeeper Kasper Hvidt.

His big hopes are based on the spectators in the first leg and the previous FC Barcelona Intersport VELUX EHF Champions League match - the Last 16 match in Montpellier.

“It is important that the audience will help and support us," he emphasised. "A Danish team at home with the ability to reach the VELUX EHF FINAL4 is a joint project for players and audience. In their match against Montpellier, we saw that Barcelona were shaken.

"They were down by 7:15. Barca are good but they also play against a good team with some of the world's best players. They come to Kobenhavn with great respect and they are not used to 21,000 spectators, who give an extra kick for us.”

Line player and defence specialist Joachim Boldsen counts on the backing by the audience, too: “We need all the help we can get from the stands. It will be great to have the opportunity to play in front of 21,000 spectators in the Parken arena. It is not a common place for a handball player, and it is something we should enjoy. Nobody knows whether we will see such a crowd again and I truly hope that all will give us full support.”

Boldsen is extremely happy with this draw for the quarterfinals, as “I really look forward to seeing my old teammates from Barcelona again. But there is no doubt that when the match throws off, we are enemies for 60 minutes. Every second, during every action, they must feel that they are the away team and we are the host.”

Boldsen estimates his former teammates as world class: “Barcelona is a team that consists of many great profiles, which have reached incredible results in the last years and decades.” But despite those huge success he hopes for an equal day full of emotions: “Basically I just want to get it started! It is a war and it becomes a war that we intend to win!”

Photo: ARNASON.DK, SPORTSFOTO