30.05.2013, 06:14
Some players will be stronger for this pressure, some will crumble

VELUX EHF FINAL4 isn't a matter of life and death, it's more important than that, ehfTV.com commentator Tom Ó Brannagáin writes in his last blog before the opening throw-off of the VELUX EHF FINAL4

Some players will be stronger for this pressure, some will crumble

Do you remember when you were a kid on Christmas Eve. You couldn't get to sleep, you stayed awake for as long as you could hoping you might hear sleigh bells or the rustle of a bag filled with toys in the flue of the chimney.

The VELUX EHF FINAL4 is like that for me. Sleep is hard to come by in the nights leading up to it and defensive and offensive plays pervade your sleeplessness. It is the pinnacle for all club players and for those of us lucky enough to be involved at the coal face.
 
From the moment the Dome comes into view and long before I set foot in the magnificent LANXESS arena, I know I'm involved in something special. And when we arrive at the airport to welcome the teams, and they first appear over the lip of the escalator we know we are in the zone.
 
Imagine what it must be like for the players. Quite a few of them will know the ecstasy of winning and there are many more who have experienced the agony of defeat.
 
That which doesn't kill us makes us stronger, but I have stood and interviewed players who have lost at the event and the pain is evident in their eyes. On the flip siðe I have also seen the elation of the winners.
 
Through all of these emotions of the 20,000 strong fans and the knowledge that we will broadcast to 140 countries, there must be ice blood running through your veins. However even for a seasoned campaigner like myself, it is difficult not to get a little excited.

The atmosphere in the arena ebbs and flows, it swells like a metaphoric Mexican wave and sweeps all before it. You can literally feel the emotion, as every play involves the crowd. Fans at the arena can almost reach out and touch the court, believing that in some small way they can disrupt the flight of a pass or the direction of a shot.
 
Hamburg, Kiel, Kielce and Barcelona did not begin their journey to arrive here just at a wildcard or group stage. This began the season before by qualifying to take part in the Champions League itself. This journey is quantified now in 60 minutes of a semifinal. The players arrive in the fish bowl, in the eye of 15 cameras as the world watches on.
 
That's pressure. Some will be stronger for it some will crumble.

To paraphrase Shankley, the legendary Liverpool manager; the VELUX EHF FINAL4 isn't a matter of life and death, it's more important than that.

TEXT: Tom Ó Brannagáin, ehfTV.com commentator