Sagosen's late but perfect birthday gift
He came, he saw, he conquered: Sander Sagosen continued to star in the limelight of European handball.
Three days after his 22nd birthday, the Norwegian playmaker had a more than impressive international debut for Paris Saint-Germain in their VELUX EHF Champions League opener at Kiel on Sunday.
He was the leader in attack and became top scorer of the star-studded French champions with six goals.
And after his side had taken Kiel’s fortress clearer than the result of 25:22 suggested, he remained in the focus, giving interview after interview to various TV stations.
Key to the victory
Sagosen was key to the victory, alongside another new arrival, goalkeeper Rodrigo Corrales, who came over from Wisla Plock.
“It was a truly physical match. It was a great atmosphere and a tough opponent, but it feels great to start a season likes this,” said Sagosen, whose transfer from Aalborg to PSG had already been announced early last year.
Who thought that Sagosen had just played his first ever Champions League match was wrong. At the age of 19, he was part of Aalborg’s squad for the 2014/15 season and scored 45 goals in 10 matches.
More recently his star rose at the Men’s EHF EURO 2016 where he led Norway to their first ever semi-final at a major tournament.
Despite a broken hand, Sagosen played that semi-final, which Norway unluckily lost in extra time to eventual champions Germany. He also appeared in the bronze medal match against Croatia.
Sagosen was awarded a spot in the tournament’s All-star Team, a feat he repeated after winning silver with Norway at the World Championship 2017.
A major role
Even alongside teammates like Nikola Karabatic, Daniel Narcisse and Mikkel Hansen – all (former) IHF World Players of the Year – Sagosen played a major role in PSG’s European opener.
Who thought Sagosen might get less playing time against Kiel than the big stars, got it wrong. Karabatic mostly played in defence, Sagosen and Hansen were the core strikers, while Narcisse was on court only briefly.
“Our coach Noka Serdarusic believes in me, my teammates trust me, I tried to do my best for the team and tried to take the responsibility. And I guess it was OK,” Sagosen said with a smile on his face.
“Personally, this was a perfect Champions League start. But it was just the start, there are many more tough opponents to come as we hope to make it all the way to Cologne,” said Sagosen, whose girlfriend is fellow Norwegian player Hannah Oftedal.
But Sagosen knows that it was not only him who conquered the Sparkassen-Arena on Sunday.
“Though we still made some mistakes, it was a strong team performance. And Rodrigo Corrales was the icing on the cake,” he said.
The praised Spaniard played almost the full 60 minutes, only briefly making way for legend Thierry Omeyer for two penalties.
But like Sagosen, Corrales remained humble.
“I felt honoured when Noka told me that I would start,” the goalkeeper said. “And I tried to help my team and grab this great opportunity. But to be honest, I did not expect to play that much.”
TEXT:
Björn Pazen / ew