Zebras cruise to Gothenburg

Usually away trips are taken by bus or by plane, but defending VELUX EHF Champions League champions THW Kiel take a different way to their next match in Gothenburg against Swedish champions IK Sävehof on Saturday.

Accompanied by 800 fans, the German team will travel by ferry from Kiel to Gothenburg, a means of transport used for more than 45 years, mostly by tourists and truck drivers.

“This travel is the most convenient one for us. Otherwise we would have travelled at least nine hours by bus – and nobody can forecast the weather conditions in Denmark and Sweden.

"So we will enjoy an easy-going trip with all our fans and sponsors, and the players can stretch out in their cabins,” club director Sabine Holdorf-Schulst explains why the “Zebras” are taking the ferry to their international next match.

“We never expected such a huge interest from our fans, but maybe it is because of the way of travelling and because of our close connection to Sweden, as we had and have so many Swedish players in our squad,” Holdorf-Schulst said.

In the current team, goalkeeper Andreas Palicka, team captain and line player Marcus Ahlm and right wing Niclas Ekberg are Swedish.

The game between Sävehof IK and the defending champions THW Kiel is scheduled for Saturday, 9 February at 16:00 CET will be available live on ehfTV.com and will not be geo-blocked in Germany.