From the golf course to the main event, the dream comes true

Bogdan Wenta knows them all. In the 1990’s he was team mate of THW Kiel coach Alfred Gislason in Irun (Spain), later on he was a player for Kielce’s current semi-final opponent FC Barcelona and after receiving German citizenship, he went on to win the bronze medal at the EHF EURO 1998 together with current HSV coach Martin Schwalb.

On 1 June he returns to the LANXESS Arena with his club KS Vive Targi Kielce, where he celebrated the biggest success of his coaching career, leading Poland to the 2007 World Championship final.

Wenta has a lot of relationships and memories of his opponents and the venue. Now he has made his dream come true, to coach a VELUX EHF FINAL4 participant, as he explains in this interview with ehfCL.com.

ehfCL.com: How does it feel to be part of the VELUX EHF FINAL4?

Bogdan Wenta: Simply wonderful! We are absolutely delighted. It will be the highlight of my five years at the club. We made it, though a lot of people thought it would be impossible. Now we go to Cologne.

ehfCL.com: In 2012 you had been guest of the VELUX EHF FINAL4 as a player of the charity golf tournament, now you are on the bench at the main event.

Bogdan Wenta: Last year was an incredible experience to see this brilliant arena, the perfect organisation and the great atmosphere.

Kielce’s club president Bertus Servaas had accompanied me and we had sworn to each other: in years to come we have to be part of it with Kielce. Now we have made it just one year later, fantastic!

ehfCL.com: To be in Cologne is one thing, to finish on top another – what chance does Kielce have?

Bogdan Wenta: It is very simple: whoever fights, can lose, but those who not fight, have already lost before the start. Some said, we are going to Cologne to learn – I have a different opinion.

When you work very hard for one year, if you go beyond your limits, then you cannot say: I’ll go to Cologne just to learn. Of course all of the other participants had hoped to face us before the draw, but now we will fight.

ehfCL.com: Do you have certain memories of the LANXESS Arena, especially regarding the final of the 2007 World Championship against Germany?

Bogdan Wenta: This match was something really special for me as a national team coach and of course also for my players.

We were representing our country in the final of a World Championship, attended by both Presidents of Poland and Germany and in a fully sold-out arena. I had a special relationship to the German team, as I had German citizenship and played for Germany.

What was even more special was that their national team coach, Heiner Brand, was my coach before and suddenly became my opponent. It was the best result ever for a Polish national team, but in the end we lost the final. I have very positive memories despite losing my one and only match in the LANXESS arena so far.

ehfCL.com: Do you agree that Kielce was lucky in each of the draws before the semi-final?

Bogdan Wenta: What is the definition of luck? If you work hard, you deserve luck. Nobody knows what would have happened if we started in a different group against different opponents. We have gained huge international experience over the five years that I have been coach of Kielce and we made use of this experience on our way to Cologne, so you cannot say that it was only luck.

ehfCL.com: You had played a number of years for Spanish clubs, including FC Barcelona. What is your personal experience with the record winner of the EHF Champions League?

Bogdan Wenta: I was in Spain for seven years. I had two brilliant years at Irun, where I was teammate of current THW Kiel coach Alfred Gislason and was awarded the best foreign player and best player of the season in Spain.

Then I transferred to FC Barcelona and I very quickly agreed with the motto, that Barca is more than a club. You can only understand this motto, when you have played there. I learnt a lot, especially what professional attitude towards sports means and how a professional club works.

This philosophy is still an integral part of the club; just have a look on the results in all their sports sections.

ehfCL.com: Can Kielce approach the semi-final without any pressure, as your team have nothing to lose?

Bogdan Wenta: Correct! Among the four teams to make it to Cologne, we are the nobodies, regarding the name of the club.

But looking upon our squad, you can find a lot of international experience including players who have already won the EHF Champions League several times like Uros Zorman, or played in finals like Venjo Losert and the former Löwen and HSV players.

In my opinion only the name of the club is not so common in Europe, but I hope that the respect for us will rise after these two days in Cologne.

ehfCL.com: Do you have a certain recipe to beat Barcelona?

Bogdan Wenta (laughing): We have a proverb in Poland, saying: you must defend very closely and shoot very precisely. Sounds easy, but we are talking about Barcelona, so our only chance is to prepare intensively and grab the chance, if we can.

ehfCL.com: Would your chances to reach the final be bigger, if you faced one of the German teams?

Bogdan Wenta: I don’t know, it’s hard to say, if it would have been easier against Hamburg or especially Kiel. But it’s idle to talk, as we have to face Barcelona.

All three teams have impacted the world of handball in the last few years or even decades, so we are in company with clubs with much more trophies and silverware in their cabinets.

But sport is easy: if you fight, you can achieve anything.