Lindberg wins the 'adidas Golden Ball'

Hans Lindberg won two races in one day as he not only lifted the VELUX EHF Champions League trophy, but also the 'adidas Golden Ball' after finishing as the top scorer in the 2012/13 VELUX EHF Champions League. The Danish right wing of HSV Hamburg added six goals to his tally in the final match against FC Barcelona Intersport (30:29 after extra-time) and passed the three-digit mark with his 101 goals.

Before the match the 31-year-old double Men's EHF EURO champion led by eight goals ahead of Barcelona's Siarhei Rutenka and although the Belarusian left back scored two more goals in the match, he did not endanger Lindberg's individual achievement.

"I am so tired and so happy right now," he told ehfCL.com right after the match.. "This was a great game, probably the greatest I have ever played. My emotions are incredible. We fought with everything we had and in the end we succeeded. In such an atmosphere it is something crazy."

His 101 goals were instrumental in the Hamburg's Cinderella story as the German club only narrowly qualified after beating St. Raphael by one goal in extra-time of the Wild Card Tournament.

"In the qualification we were so lucky and won only by one goal in the extra-time and now I cannot believe I am standing here as a champion now," he said. "I am speechless. Right now it does not really matter I have won the top scorer trophy, right now I am just so happy because we won with a team,“ Lindberg added.

He became the second Danish top scorer of the premier European club competition in a row as he succeeded Mikkel Hansen from AG København who won the award last year.  

Top scorers of the Men's EHF Champions League:
1993/94  Uroš Šerbec, Celje Pivovarna Laško/SLO 76
1994/95 Nenad Peruničić, Bidasoa Irun/ESP 82
1995/96 Carlos Resende, ABC Braga/POR 80
1996/97 Carlos Resende, ABC Braga/POR 82
1997/98 József Éles, MKB Veszprém KC/HUN 84
1998/99 Zlatko Saračević, RK Zagreb/CRO 90
1999/00 Zlatko Saračević, RK Zagreb/CRO 92
2000/01 Yuriy Kostetskiy, ABC Braga/POR 81
2001/02 Nenad Peruničić, SC Magdeburg 122
2002/03 Mirza Džomba, FOTEX KC Veszprem/HUN 67
2003/04 Siarhei Rutenka, Celje Pivovarna Laško/SLO 103
2004/05 Siarhei Rutenka, Celje Pivovarna Laško/SLO 85
2005/06 Kiril Lazarov, MKB Veszprem/HUN 85
2006/07 Nikola Karabatic, THW Kiel/GER 89
2007/08 Kiril Lazarov, MKB Veszprém/HUN and Ólafur Stefánsson, BM Ciudad Real/ESP 96
2008/09 Filip Jícha, THW Kiel/GER 99
2009/10 Filip Jícha, THW Kiel/GER 119
2010/11 Uwe Gensheimer, Rhein-Neckar Löwen/GER 118
2011/12 Mikkel Hansen, AG København 98
2012/13 Hans Lindberg, HSV Hamburg 101