28.09.2007, 01:58
GOG coach happy, not surprised

Ulf Schefvert talks to Eurohandball.com after making a surprise draw in Pamplona.

GOG coach happy, not surprised

Ulf Schefvert, Swedish coach of Danish champions GOG Svendborg TGI, was happy, but not really surprised after his team’s sensational 28-28 away draw against Portland San Antonio in the first group match. His team came back from being four goals down with four minutes left to secure the draw with a Lasse Svan penalty in the last second.

ehfCL.com talks to Schefvert after the astonishing match where GOG even had two injured key players, while Portland were at full strength.

ehfCL.com: How do you feel after starting the CL with this sensational result?

Ulf Schefvert: Of course, I’m happy right now – we all are – but there are still quite a lot of matches to go, so we will have to see what the future brings.

I’m not so much surprised by the result, though. Portland San Antonio do, of course, have a stronger team if you look at the names alone, but sometimes the right tactics and the right attitude can make up for such a difference.

ehfCL.com: Did you honestly believe in taking a point or two home from Pamplona?

Ulf Schefvert: Yes, all the time. I always believe in having a chance before the match, no matter how hopeless it may seem. However, when we were four goals down with four minutes left, it was a bit hard for me to keep my faith in this chance. But we had the luck we needed at the end!

ehfCL.com: You might even have won the match with less technical mistakes in the first half…

Ulf Schefvert: Yes, that is correct, and no one could probably have argued that we deserved it. Now, it is important for us not to get too excited. In our next group match at home against Tatran Petrov, we will probably be considered favourites. We have to see how the players handle that situation.

ehfCL.com: What does this result mean in the group? People might regard you as favourites for the first place after making a draw away against Porttland?

Ulf Schefvert: Oh no, we are not the favourites in the group. Not yet anyway, but of course, we go for the group victory if possible. We go for the win every time we play! And, of course, we will have both Dennis Kirkegaard and Mikkel Hansen back from injury soon, and that will, of course, give us more strings on the violin, as you say in Denmark.

TEXT: Peter Bruun