19.11.2007, 03:29
Icing on the cake

Gummersbach win Group F after defeating Reykjavik. The Germans celebrate group victory with a clear 34-22.

Icing on the cake

“We will enjoy the matches against top clubs in the Main Round.” VfL coach, Alfred Gislasson, was very satisfied and happy after a clear 34:22 (16:10) victory against Icelandic team.

“We played a good match,” he said after his club reached their first objective in the CL. Right before the start of the group phase nobody could imagine VfL finishing number one in the group, as the opponents (Veszprém and Celje) seemed to have the same strength. In addition, topscorer Gudjon Valur Sigurdsson wasn’t able to play the whole first round due to a shoulder operation.

But in the end everything went okay for the Germans: unbeaten after five matches, one draw in Veszprém and four victories. Reaching second round is a good result; finishing on top is the icing on their “Champions League cake”.

The last match in the Kölnarena with 3,167 spectators against the Icelandic champion Valur Reykjavik was decided very early. The second halftime was something like a training session for Gummersbach.

It also means that Vfl are seeded in pot 1 at the draw for the second round on 27 November in Vienna – just as the other German teams, THW Kiel and HSV Hamburg.

Oskar Oskarsson, coach of Reykjavik, was a bit disappointed after the clear defeat:

“After the victory against Celje we’re back on the ground again. We played too slow. We should have played brilliantly to win here, but we did not.”

Gummersbach found the pace after 1:3, but then came the time of Norwegian Kenneth Klev, who came in after the suspension of Roman Pungartnik (red carded in Veszprém).

After 9:6, the “VfL express” was running, and it was clear very early that the Germans would win the match, as they played very concentrated even without Oleg Kuleschov missing due to knee problems and Momir Illic had some injury.

The topscorer of Gummersbach was Vedran Zrnic with nine goals, followed by Icelandic pivot Robert Gunnarsson (6). On the last day in this group Gummersbach will play in Celje – this match will decide whether the Slovenians or the Hungarian Veszprém will follow Gummersbach to the Main Round.

For VfL it’s now clear that they will not play against Kiel or Hamburg in next round.

“I don’t mind, what opponents we get. Now we are glad to belong to the 16 strongest clubs of the world,” said Gislasson.

TEXT: Björn Pazen