Sanna Solberg: “Playing against my twin sister will be peculiar”

When Team Esbjerg host Siófok KC Hungary for the first leg of the Women’s EHF Cup Final on Sunday afternoon, it will be the first time the Norwegian twin sisters Sanna and Silje Solberg have played against each other.

They 28-year-old twins have played plenty of matches in the same team, for Norway as well at a club level, but they have never been each other’s opponents. That is going to change these coming two weekends.

While Silje Solberg is goalkeeper for Siófok, her sister Sanna is playing left wing in Esbjerg.

“It will be peculiar to play against my sister. We are very close, but those two weekends, we will be opponents,” says Sanna Solberg. “It will be a bit strange, but I am also looking very much forward to it – to play against Silje as well as to the final itself.” 

Sanna Solberg can look forward to two additional final matches with her Danish teammates, apart from the EHF Cup Finals. 

In the Danish championship final too

On Wednesday evening, Team Esbjerg qualified for the Danish championship final through a 29:23 away win against defending champions Kobenhavn Handball in the second leg of the semi-final.

“That was a very important milestone for us, and of course, that win has given us even more self-confidence before the EHF Cup Finals. It is also a nice feeling that our remaining matches this season will entirely be finals,” says Sanna Solberg. 

“It gives us some calmness that our championship final berth is a fact before the EHF Cup finals. If we had lost, we would have had the third semi-final to think about. That is out of our heads now. Now, we can focus entirely on the matches against Siófok. 

Sanna Solberg is playing her second season with Esbjerg after transferring from Larvik in 2017, while her sister Silje is playing her first season for Siófok, whom she joined from Issy Paris Hand last summer.

The sisters started their career at the top level together at Norwegian league club Stabæk IF.

Chances are 50/50

While Siófok have made it to their first European final, Team Esbjerg were in the EHF Cup Final in 2014, when they lost over two matches against Russian club Lada.

This season, the team from the far west of Denmark have only lost one point throughout their EHF Cup campaign, but still, Sanna Solberg has huge respect for her sister and her teammates.

“I believe the chances over the two matches are 50/50. Siófok have a great team, and they have many players who have tried this before, so it will be difficult, no doubt.

“However, we also have a strong team, and of course I believe in our chance,” she says.

In their quarter-final tie against Russian side Kuban as well in the semi-final against fellow Danes Herning-Ikast Handbold, Team Esbjerg played the second leg at home, which many people see as an advantage. In the final however, it will be the other way around. 

Esbjerg have the home right in Blue Water Dokken this Sunday before travelling to Hungary next Saturday for the return match.

“It would obviously have been better if we had finished away, but we must simply take things as they come,” says Sanna Solberg. 

“I am sure that our home advantage in the first match can get us a good result before the away game, and even though it is always tough to play in Hungary, where there are always some very enthusiastic crowds, I am sure we are experienced enough to handle that too.”