“Enjoy every moment“

“Once FCM, always FCM” is the motto of Midtjylland’s right wing Trine Østergaard Jensen. Since she is a professional player and an integral part of the club, for which she even works in the administration. The 22-year-old Danish national team player hopes that team spirit will bring her team to the final.

It was close, but FCM made it in the end – how did you celebrate clinching the berth for the MVM EHF FINAL4 in Budapest?

Trine Østergaard Jensen: Yes it was very close and I can still not believe that we actually made it through to Budapest. It is a dream come true and I am so excited for the match against Györ. The funny part about celebrating after the Thüringer game in Ikast, is that we actually did not celebrate it as we should have. But I am sure that we are going to celebrate it on the right way after the season comes to a close.

Your team is nearly “all-Scandinavian” or even “all-Danish” – is this something special regarding the team spirit?

Trine Østergaard Jensen: It is obviously very nice to have teammates who all speak Danish. We have our Dutch girl Nycke Groot and our German girl Sabine Englert who are the only ones not from Denmark, but you kind of forget that because they speak Danish so well. In regards to the team spirit I do not think that the nationalities matter. When your dreams and goals are the same it does not matter which language you speak.

FCM will face defending Champions Györ in the semi-final on Hungarian ground. How do you rate your chances to proceed?

Trine Østergaard Jensen: First of all I would like to say that I am so excited to play against Györ. It is in no doubt one of the hardest opponents we can come up against, but that is also what makes it very special and fun. We will play with all the strength and power we have and hopefully surprise everyone present at the MVM EHF FINAL4. We are underdogs in this match, so we have everything to win. But I do think that if we play up to our very best, we will stand a chance. We have already proved that we belong among those four teams, because of our victories against Buducnost and Vardar who face in the other semi-final.

What was the key to success of FCM in this season?

Trine Østergaard Jensen: We have a strong concept which we all know and believe in. We do not have the same kind of star players in our squad like the three other teams have. We play together as a team and that is our strength. The key to our success is team spirit, fight and believe. We all know that if we play up to our best, we can beat the best.

Danish squads had been dominating the competition for a long time, but since 2010 no Danish side made it to the semi-finals. What makes the difference for FCM this season?

Trine Østergaard Jensen: We have a lot of players, who have played together for a long time now. We know each other’s strengths and we all want the same things. That is a huge key for our qualification to the semi-finals this season. The Danish league was announced the world’s best handball league this year, which is a very important and good thing for Danish handball as well. With that said, I mean that all games in the Danish league are hard, because everyone can beat each other on any given day.

As one of only three teams in this EHF Champions League season, FCM are coached by a woman. Is this something special or is it normal for you?

Trine Østergaard Jensen: Helle Thomsen is a fantastic coach and I am very glad and honoured to play for her. She sees all the best things in a player and pressures you to be better and develop every day. I do not think it is special to have a woman as coach. I think it is very nice sometimes because she can understand things a man doesn’t. That does not mean that I do not have respect for her, because she can be just as tough and hard as many male coaches I have had in my career.

In your professional career you have never worn another jersey. What is your special relationship to your club?

Trine Østergaard Jensen: That is right, and I am going to be wearing it until 2016, which I am very happy about and proud to do. My relationship with FCM is amazing, I love representing the club. I love my teammates, whom I have a really good bond with. The staff of coaches is great and I love that Helle always wants you to become better, which is also a very important thing for me, because I am still in the learning and developing process. I actually work in the administration of the club on the side, so I have a special bond to the people “behind” the club as well. Right now I do not see myself at any other club, because I am happy to be here every day and that is for me, as a professional handball player, a very important thing in order to succeed. 

What are your hopes and expectations in general for the first MVM EHF FINAL4 in Budapest? Will a lot of FCM fans accompany the team?

Trine Østergaard Jensen: I am so excited for the event and I think it is going to be huge. I think it is important for me to enjoy every moment of it, because you never know if you are going to experience it ever again. I am so happy that we already made it this far, but I am of course not satisfied with only participating – enough is never enough and I think if we just dream big and put a lot of hard work and fight in to it, we can stand with the trophy in the end. We do have a lot of supporters and fans, but I do not think that it will be FCM fans you see all over the arena in Budapest. I am sure that they will do whatever it takes to support us and always hope for the win.