Tamminen: “Now everyone knows who Riihimäen Cocks are”

After two months of near misses and brave defeats, Riihimäen Cocks bagged their first victory in the VELUX EHF Champions League on Sunday against Wacker Thun, a 31:29 win nobody could deny was well-deserved.

Cocks’ debut season in Europe’s elite club competition has put Finnish handball on the map, but tasting success in Round 7 has added something special to their maiden voyage.

“It was so sweet, nobody could believe it and everybody was crying. In the last timeout, I thought to myself ‘oh my God, now the victory is coming’, it was a great moment,” said Cocks’ captain Teemu Tamminen.

Unlike many of their disappointments this season, where the Finnish club saw a healthy lead disappear, they did the chasing against Thun and managed to turn a four-goal half-time deficit around – a feat which did not go unnoticed by Finnish media.

“The feedback was unbelievable. Newspapers and TV reported on us making Finnish handball history and told our story, which is important for the sport here,” explained the 31-year-old left wing.

“It has given us a boost and now that we have our first win, we want more points. We stay humble, but we want the remaining games to go well – we are only searching for victories.”

Although they had to wait almost two months for the first win, the handball world already sat up and took notice of this team’s performances.

They have already proved they belong at this level, an incredible achievement for a group of players who must work other jobs alongside training like professionals. Tamminen, for example, works full-time as a plumber and studies alongside handball.

“The attention from the handball world is great, on Instagram I am getting more ‘real’ handball players following me. You can feel the respect that comes from playing in the big boys’ league.

“I remain humble, because everyday I work for eight hours, so I forget about handball in the morning and afternoon, then in the evening it is handball time.”

Cocks’ two outstanding performers in the top flight this season have been Tamminen, with 36 goals, and left back Nico Rönnberg, who sits top of the competition’s scorers list with 48.

“Nico and I are like a telepathic duo, he is like a brother from another mother.

“He is a great player, he is young, has a lot of talent and a great shot, it is cool to play alongside him and the greatest thing is that the entire team is contributing to our performances.

“To see Nico at the top of the scorers list is amazing, because Finland is not a handball country, but now everyone knows who Nico Rönnberg and Riihimäen Cocks are,” says Tamminen.

This debut season in the VELUX EHF Champions League has given Riihimäen Cocks a taste of what is required to compete at this level and what is possible for them.

Seeing one or two players excel on this stage is nice, but their captain will not settle for that, he believes much more can be achieved.

“It is a bonus for us to see Nico top of the scorers list, but someday we want to see our team top of our group. That time will come with hard work, trust and belief in ourselves,” concludes Teemu Tamminen.