We depend on each other, says Sabine Pedersen

Last year, Sabine Pedersen had to see the dream of the Women's EHF Champions League fade away. She and her teammates from Viborg HK failed to go on from the qualification tournament.

This year, being Danish champions, Viborg are directly qualified for the group phase. But Sabine Pedersen is no longer with them.

This summer the 28-year-old line player transferred to another Danish top club FC Midtjylland, where she has replaced former Danish international Louise Svalastog Spellerberg. This means that she will be facing yet another qualification tournament this season.

This coming weekend, in Qualification Group 2 in Kragujevac, Serbia, FC Midtjylland will make the attempt to enter the Champions League, in which they had so much success last season that they even reached the MVM EHF FINAL4.

It is only natural that the disappointment last year has made Pedersen extra keen to succeed this time.

“Of course it would mean a lot to me and to the whole team to qualify for the Champions League. That is what we are playing and training for, and of course I am also dreaming of reaching the FINAL4 like the team did last year. I even dream of standing in the Champions League final. What handball player does not dream of that?

“However, it is really hard to predict just how far we can go. Even if we qualify we will meet some teams who really do not have anything else to focus on but the Champions League, while we are under pressure in practically every match in the Danish league,” she tells ehfCL.com.

Tough schedule

The way she sees it, things may already be difficult enough this weekend in Serbia, where FC Midtjylland run into the hosts from WHC Radnicki Kragujevac in the semi-final Saturday.

If the Danish runners-up from last season manage to overcome that hurdle, the winner of the duel between Croatian champions HC Podravka Vegeta and Norwegian runners-up Byasen Trondheim will be waiting in the deciding battle for the group phase ticket.

“Sometimes it may be an advantage for us that we get under pressure almost every time we play in the Danish league, but that advantage is hard to sport this week. Monday we played away against Esbjerg (21:21) Wednesday at home against Team Tvis Holstebro (19:23), and then we have the Champions League qualifiers coming up in the weekend. That is a tough schedule,” says Sabine Pedersen who also expects a tough challenge from the Serbian crowd in the match against Kragujevac Saturday.

“I think we will simply have to try and leave everything around us out of our heads and just focus on our own game. There is no doubt that we depend on each other, and that everyone will have to perform at her best, but if we do that, I think we have a really good chance.

“When I played in Viborg, we had a few players there who could decide a match more or less by themselves. In FC Midtjylland we need all players to perform, and we have a more collective way of playing which appeals to me. If we can stay free from injury, I believe we can go far,” finds Sabine Pedersen.

Further information

Both semi-finals and the final match of the Qualification Tournament 2 will be streamed live and free of charge on ehfTV.com.