A moment with ... Hans and Hens

This is a classic moment in the “A Moment With ......” series. An interview with two of the greats of European handball: Pascal Hens and Hans Lindberg. It is the only time you will find a Dane translating German to English for the sake of keeping an interview going. I am still smiling as I write this, for it’s not your typical interview. Rather it is a “dressing room” chat between three blokes, retelling war stories, cracking jokes and generally having good banter.

“Call me Pommes”

And it’s off. Relaxed from the start, they rib each other about pre-match rituals, superstitions. Who spends longest in front of the mirror and the favourites on the team. Half-way through the interview Hans remembers that he used to have to bake bread for Pascal before matches. The ritual is over now but Hens decides he wants it to start again.

“It’s relaxing, summer, beach and friends”

Hans explains why he takes part in beach handball tournaments even during his off season. He can do it because he’s a winger, jokes Hens, but then seriously says that quitting the national team and having time off has allowed him to recover from injury and enjoy some halcyon moments with HSV.

“Winning the title was important for handball in Germany”

Hans talks of the heartbreak of losing to Kiel in the third last match of 2010 to let the title slip from their grasp. It made it all the more sweet when they won the following season. Pascal has theories on why they haven’t won it since. Kiel, he believes, concentrate on every game, whereas perhaps HSV don’t treat every game as a final.

“It was an advantage that we had such a bad season”

The CL triumph of 2013 is still fresh in the memory, but the behind the scenes of how they went about winning it is perhaps not so well known to the fans. Four weeks of preparation to just beat Kiel led to the sudden revelation that they had to now beat Barcelona. It’s fantastic to hear such honesty from teammates and their respect for all the guys that went into that electrifying win.

“He treats everyone the same”

Every player who has played under Schwalb has great respect for him. I quip that Pascal is his pet though. Not anymore says Hens. Now it’s Dule (Duvnjak) and both launch into how Schwalb constantly tells the rest of the team that Domagoj never makes a mistake. It’s rib-tickling funny and you know it’s all in good humour, they both have the height of respect for their teammate.

The chat meanders through the reasons why Danish players are currently at the top of their game, why more of them play at the top than Germans. International handball gets a mention, especially Danish fans, of whom Hans is full of praise.

On life after handball they both want to stay involved. Hans would like to stay in handball in a general sense. Pascal foresees some role with HSV. I joke that Schwalb will never let him go. Hans weighs in with a classic:

“Schwalb will adopt him”

It was a pleasure chatting with both of these top professionals. And the fact that they spent so long talking to me straight after a tough training, the day before a big game shows their class.

But it’s a little peek into the kind of humour that exists in teams. It’s a different style.

It’s a quick grab of dressing room banter.

Thank you boys!!!

You can listen to the entire audio interview here.