18.03.2014, 05:19
FC Midtjylland: We want more

FEATURE: Having qualified for the Women´s EHF FINAL4 is not enough to satisfy the ambitions by Danish champions FC Midtjylland. They are going all in for Budapest in May

FC Midtjylland: We want more

2,443 spectators – with the exception of the Thüringer HC fans – celebrated the players of FC Midtjylland with almost ecstatic enthusiasm in the early evening hours Sunday, as the Danish champions had qualified for the Women’s EHF FINAL4 through a 26:20 win against THC.

“This is just so great. Maybe the greatest thing ever, also for the girls,” Midtjylland coach Helle Thomsen said shortly after the match which qualified her team for the first edition of the event.

However, qualifying is not enough for FC Midtjylland. They want more.

“We do not just say ‘Yeah, now we have qualified for the FINAL4.’ No way, we are not going to Budapest just to have a holiday weekend. We want to go all the way,” FC Midtjylland’s experienced line player Louise Svalastog Spellerberg told ehfCL.com.

The former Danish international is in no doubt about the reason for her team’s success in Europe this season.

“We have managed to develop a concept which fits very well with our team, and generally we are good at sticking to this concept and to the deals we make. Furthermore, we have a world class goalkeeper (Sabine Englert) and we are good at benefitting from the counter-attacks which her many saves give us,” said the 31-year-old, who finds it very justified that her team is among the four teams in Budapest.

“When you look at our results throughout the competition, I really think we deserve to be in the FINAL4. For instance, we have won all our home matches and actually we should have won all our matches along the way.

“In all our matches, including the ones we lost, we have been in a position to win. In all our matches we have been in the lead, but in some of them we let our opponents into the game, when we forgot our concept.

“That happened in our away game against Thüringer, whom we stupidly invited into the game, and in our away match against Vardar, where we let go for a few minutes and all of a sudden Vardar were back in the game.

“On Sunday, at home against Thüringer, we managed to stick to the concept throughout the match and that was the reason for our clear win,” explained Spellerberg.

A boost to women’s handball

“Of course, it means a lot to the club that we are in the FINAL4 now, but it also means a lot to women’s handball in Denmark in general.

“It is the first time in four years that Denmark has a team in the semi-finals of the competition, so women’s handball really needs the boost to be represented in the first edition of this new event,” said Louise Spellerberg.

She is not intimidated by the fact that Midtjylland´s opponent in the semi-final in Budapest on Saturday, 3 May will be none other than reigning champions Györ.

“Of course, they will be huge favourites against us. Their team consists almost entirely of world class players, but all teams have their weaknesses, as have Györ. 

If we can reveal those weaknesses and benefit from them, we definitely have a chance. Nothing is impossible. I have never been so close to the Champions League trophy and now I want it,” concluded Spellerberg.

TEXT: Peter Bruun / cor