19.10.2013, 08:00
I still have unfinished business with this competition

BLOG: In his first blog for ehfCL.com, PSG star Daniel Narcisse tells us about the differences in life between Germany and France and what the VELUX EHF Champions League means to him

I still have unfinished business with this competition

Just several hours before the Match of the Week in the VELUX EHF Champions League Round 4 aganist FC Barcelona Daniel Narcisse reveals his thougths after the reigning World Handball Player of the Year moved from THW Kiel back to his home country, where his career in the European top flighted started exactly ten years ago.

Differences between life here and in Germany

I've spent seven years of my life in Germany, three in Gummersbach and four in Kiel. The cultural differences are not as big as people think they are. You can't get out at night in Germany because everything is closed really early, but that doesn't bother me since I like to stay at home.

We're away enough already with all the games, especially when you're playing in the Champions League with games every three days. German people really respect your privacy; I could walk through the streets of Kiel without being harassed. In Paris, people just ask for a photograph or an autograph nicely, a few words and that's it, it's not like I'm a big star.

PSG's new adventure

The new owners of the club proved to me how serious their project was and how they were determined to build up a team to do something in the Champions League, this immediately appealed to me.

Of course, everything is taking a little bit a time to fall in place, but I'm sure by the middle of the season everything will be fine. Everybody is impatient towards us, and I can't understand that.

When you look at the roster, it looks impressive and I can understand people expecting us to win everything right away. However, all big teams got where they are through hard work and we're no different.

I knew a lot of people before arriving here, we've all met before in international competitions, and there are all my buddies from the French team. I'm trying to help the new ones setting in, because I already speak French and I speak German as well, so I sometimes translate to Igor Vori, who then translate in Croatian to Jakov Gojun. But don't worry, we all get to understand each other!

Places I like to go in Paris

I haven't had much time to roam around Paris yet. I know my kids do a lot more than me. When I come home from a game, the last thing I want to do is to get out again. I think the time when I go sightseeing will be when I retire!

Jokes aside, I love going to the St Michel area, it's kind of quiet, you can hang out by the Seine, lots of shops and it’s quite arty as well so I like it. I'm anonymous there, no one to ask me anything, that's definitely pleasurable and there are some good restaurants.

I have a lot to learn on Paris because there is definitely more to do in here than in Kiel, even though I really liked my life there.

My relationship with the EHF Champions League

When I played for the first time with Chambéry, we played against Ciudad Réal, and even though we lost, I got to play against Talant Dujshebaev and the likes.

You learn a lot faster when you're playing in the competition, because it is the best club competition in the world. When you go there as a young player, there are two options. Either you're playing it with your eyes wide open, more like a spectator than anything, or you're going into it 200%, and that's when it starts being interesting.

Winning it with Kiel was definitely a career highlight for me, it represents a lot for handball players in Europe, having your name next to all these historic players. Winning it with Kiel was special, because of the history of the club you really fell like you belong to something.

I still have unfinished business with the competition. We nearly played our worst games in Cologne last June. I don't know what happened to our Kiel team last time, loads of defensive problems and I think that being the favourite really played against us.

We played against Hamburg, who had everything to win and they played their match of the season. I really want to go back there with PSG as soon as possible and make up for last June.

TEXT: Daniel Narcisse, PSG Handball centre back