07.09.2010, 12:01
Kraus is in the House

VELUX EHF Men's Champions League countdown, part 10: HSV Hamburg (GER)

Kraus is in the House

It was a long and winding road, but in the end Michael Kraus reached his destination. The German World Champion might be the only newcomer at HSV Hamburg, but he is a highly important one for the Northern German club.

Kraus came from TBV Lemgo. His transfer once again gives the team expectations for their first big national or international title.

"I am planning to have some celebrations at the end of the season, up on the balcony of the city hall," Kraus talks about his ambitions.

Last season HSV lead the German Bundesliga for most of the time, but by losing against their biggest rival THW Kiel on the three match days before the end of the season they missed the German title again. Despite 30 season victories they for the third time ended up runners-up behind THW.

In the EHF Champions League their old Spanish rival again meant the end for Hamburg – as they for the third consecutive time failed against Ciudad Real, this time in the Quarterfinals.

So now HSV is aiming high again – especially after having beaten Kiel in the season’s opener – the German Super Cup 27:26, like in 2009.

No player left the squad after last season, with the exceptions of Niklas Grundsten who already left in winter to Granollers (Spain) and Oleg Velyky had died of cancer.

The budget has reached new heights with 8,5 million Euro, and so has the sale of almost 6,000 season tickets. Last season HSV had the highest average attendance in the Bundesliga with more than 10,300.

HSV is highly self-confident, even as they surprisingly lost the league starter against Göppingen: "We’re aiming for every possible title - German championship, German cup and also the EHF Champions League," Coach Martin Schwalb said.

By looking upon the EHF Champions League Group Phase he adds: "We play against very attractive opponents. Veszprém is very strong on home soil, Montpellier will come to Hamburg with the well known Karabatic brothers. So we belong to a highly interesting group and meet opponents we have never played against before in the EHF Champions League. Our objective is to be number one in the group."

"It’s great to have such strong teams in Hamburg, especially for our fans," manager Christian Fitzek said. "They know players like Nikola Karabatic and Vid Kavticnik very well."

For Fitzek especially the match in Veszprém means something very special: "They have a unique atmosphere, that is impressive for every player. And we’ll play in the new arena in Montpellier. Our aim is to win this group – but we will have to play against international top teams that have the same objective."

Goalkeeper Johannes Bitter shares this opinion: "We’re really looking forward to meet some new teams. Last season we met opponents we had already to played against several times. Our fans will enjoy to see the Karabatics and other top teams in our O2-World."

Two injured players had to miss the start of the season. Most likely they will miss the EHF Champions League start, too: Krzysztof Lijewski suffers from a shoulder operation, Stefan Schröder from a rupture of the crucial ligament.

But despite those intermediately losses, HSV can count on one of the strongest squads in the entire EHF Champions League – with world class players on every position like the Croat trio Blazenko Lackovic, Domagoj Duvnjak and Igor Vori, the French brothers Bertrand and Guillaume Gille, the Polish Lijewski brothers, last season’s Bundesliga top scorer Hans Lindbergh (Denmark) or the German World Champions Pascal Hens, Johannes Bitter, Torsten Jansen – and now Kraus.

"I really enjoy being in Hamburg now," Kraus said. "I was greeted well by the team –the players even helped me to find a new flat. The team is great and we can play for every title in every competition. I think we will be able to celebrate at the end of the season – I don’t mind which title we celebrate."

Additional to Montpellier and Veszprém Hamburg has two quite close trips to their Nordic neighbour countries Denmark (Kolding) and Sweden (Sävehof) and one to Tatran Presov in Slovakia.

Key facts

Newcomers: Michael Kraus (from TBV Lemgo)

Left the club: Niklas Grundsten (to Granollers, middle of last season), Oleg Velyky (died of cancer in January 2010)

Coach: Martin Schwalb (since 2005)

Club records

Winner of the European Cup winner’s Cup 2007
Champions League semi finalist 2008, 2009
German Cup winner 2006, 2010
German Super Cup winner: 2004, 2006, 2009, 2010
German Championship runners-up: 2007, 2009, 2010

Find more info here.

TEXT: Björn Pazen