Frenzy at the fan village

Picture-perfect weather, live music on the stage, good-tempered supporters and finally the sponsor stands outside and inside the LANXESS arena attracted thousands of handball fans before and between the matches.

A group of twelve THW Kiel fans were enthusiastic about the chill out zone with beanbag chairs on the grass. One of them, Frank Nowotka (48) from Bremerhaven was delighted about the atmosphere. “This is a perfect place to be. We’ve got everything we need: perfect weather and chilled beer. The fan zone is a super idea to entertain the fans before the matches.”

Handball player Salvo Signorelli (45) from Siracusa (Italy), supporter of THW Kiel, took the challenge at the JACK&JONES stand. He tested his skills at the Speedgoal and he was successful: He won a T-Shirt.

He and the other players of his handball team from Albatro Siracusa raved about the cool things that are presented in front of the LANXESS arena. Gerlinde Heintz (31) from Hamburg, supporter of SG Flensburg-Handewitt, was one of the few women who joined the Speedgoal-challenge: “Although I’ve played handball since I was eight years old, it’s quite hard to do it – but anyway it’s just for fun.”

Title sponsor VELUX brought back one of the favourites of the Fan Village - the Robokeeper, world´s fastest goalkeeper. With a save rate of 85%, it will stop almost every shot, no matter how fast you shoot or how good you aim. It has nothing to do with luck but with cutting edge technology.

Robokeeper has two cameras positioned above the goal that follow the ball. It is harder than it looks like, but not impossible to beat the Robokeeper.  Veszprem's fan Ferencz Laczo (27) says: "It's very difficult. It looks easy enough, but it's hard."

The former handball professional Lars Christiansen also gave it a try against the face of Mattias Andersson and scored the goal after a couple of shots. Julius Mücke (14) from Hanover, fan of THW Kiel, was lucky to score a goal. Together with his family Julius enjoyed the fan offers.

Rita Casillas (29) from Spain, supporter of FC Barcelona, carried some magazines that she grabbed inside the arena under her arm. Supporters got a free copy of the Handballtime magazine with lots of information and a CD with Rob Fowler’s VELUX EHF Champions League song “Do it Like us”. Rita Casillas, “I’m looking forward to listening to the song, the CD is a cool souvenir.”

The SHARP Electronic Memory Game is looking for the fastest player. Peter Kiss (25) from Budapest, Veszprem fan, was not among the fastest and wasn’t able to sign in the highscore.

“I came to Cologne by train on Saturday morning, the trip took 15 hours – maybe I’m a bit too tired to win today. But I hope the Hungarian team will be fit.”

Fans were also interested in another handball festival: “Tag des Handballs” will take place on 6 September 2014 in Frankfurt. The programme includes plenty of games, youth tournaments and a handball match of course.

Fans in Cologne have got the chance to win tickets for the special day. But there’s more to win in the fan village as the fans can sign up for the $100,000 Shot from bet-at-home.com. The lucky participants will be drawn from all applications in the arena; the competition takes place before the final.