09.11.2007, 10:36
HSV prepare with historic victory

HSV are on top before the Medvedi game: they have beaten Kiel during the week and signed a new star, Niemeyer, for next season.

HSV prepare with historic victory

First, a historic victory in a match full of tension, than a contract for a new player: HSV Hamburg have a lot of good news before the “restart” of the Champions League after a three-week break.

On Wednesday evening, 20 hours after the 31:30 in Kiel in the Toyota-Bundesliga, the club presents a new player: Arne Niemeyer (26). The national player from GWD Minden will join HSV from next season. Niemeyer signed a three-year contract with the German runner-up.

“I’m very happy about playing for Hamburg, but until the end of this season I will concentrate completely on Minden to help the club avoid relegation to the second division,” Niemeyer said.

The backcourt player is the current number one on the top scorer list of the Bundesliga with 81 goals. He played 12 international matches for Germany.

“He is a player with a great perspective for the future. We are very happy to have him in Hamburg from next season,” said HSV manager Christian Fitzek.

“Our team will be better with him, he will get a lot of playing time,” said coach Martin Schwalb.

Butthe contract of this new player was not the only joy for Schwalb, Fitzek and the team: for the first time in the club’s history, HSV wona match in Kiel. On Tuesday evening they sent a strong message for the current leaders of the Bundesliga: be aware of Hamburg!  

After the 31:30, Kiel are still the leaders with 20:4 points, but only because they played one match more than Hamburg (19:3).

“This victory does not mean a complete change, but it shows that we play on the same level as Kiel,” said HSV director Peter Krebs.

Kiel have not lost a match in the Ostseehalle for 426 days and 29 matches.

“It doesn’t happen so often that you win in Kiel, but we will not overestimate this result,” said the star of the match, HSV goalkeeper Johannes Bitter.

The decisive goal was scored by HSV top scorer, the Korean Kyung-Shin Yoon, two seconds before the final whistle (ended with 11 goals in total). This goal was seen by 10,500 spectators in the hall and more than 940,000 on TV.

However Kiel, with Nikola Karabatic the top scorer (9 goals), were not shocked by this home defeat:

“Congratulations to Hamburg. We could not stand the HSV defence today,” said THW coach Noka Serdarusic, who added: “we played with the heart, but not with the head”.

But he also reminded: “We lost a match, but not the championship.”

HSV director, Peter Krebs agrees: “Those four teams standing on the top of the table can all win the championship – it will be a very, very big competition for the top of the podium this season.”

TEXT: Björn Pazen