10.01.2018, 10:20
Three fast and furious right wings at EHF EURO 2018

PLAYERS TO WATCH OUT FOR #6: They are fast, technically skilled and crucial to their teams: Lasse Svan, Patrick Groetzki and Blaz Janc are eager to leave their mark in Croatia

Three fast and furious right wings at EHF EURO 2018

Quick, clever, and reliable for scoring from almost impossible angles: Europe’s best right wings are ready to show their skills at the EHF EURO 2018.

Lasse Svan of Denmark, Patrick Groetzki of Germany and Blaz Janc of Slovenia are among the continent’s top players on the positon.

Lasse Svan, Denmark

Considering that fact that Lasse Svan did not play handball until the age of 17, it is fair to say he has been a fast learner.

Nowadays, at age 34, he is one of the best right wings in the world, and he has held that status for numerous years already.

Like many other Danish top players, Lasse Svan had his talent developed and matured at GOG, the biggest talent factory in Danish handball. He represented the club for seven years before joining SG Flensburg-Handewitt, where he is still a key player.

With the Northern German side, where his contract expires in 2020, his greatest triumph has been winning the VELUX EHF Champions League in 2014, two years after enjoying his finest achievement with the Danish national team as they won the EHF EURO 2012 in Serbia.

His technical skills, his huge variety of shots from the right wing and his speed and explosiveness on fast breaks are his most outstanding qualities, which the Danish team will need to be successful in Croatia this month.

Initially the second choice in the national team behind Hans Lindberg, Svan has turned the tables and has become the regular starter on the right wing in recent years.

Patrick Groetzki, Germany

Having missed Germany’s ultimate triumph in recent years - winning the EHF EURO 2016 in Poland - Patrick Groetzki will be extra motivated to help his team to a successful title defence in Croatia this month.

The fast and effective right wing, who is in his 10th year with Rhein-Neckar Löwen this season, will definitely be an important factor in Germany’s game.

His speed and efficiency on the fast breaks, his spirit and his eye for the game have made him the fans’ darling in the SAP Arena of Mannheim, Rhein-Neckar Löwen’s arena for home matches.

The 28-year-old Groetzki is just as popular when the German national team is playing at home – and he loves to play for his country just as much as the fans love him.

His first international game, against Belarus in 2009, “will always remain unforgettable to me,” he recently said in an interview.

Maybe the EHF EURO 2018 could become even more unforgettable, not only to Groetzki, but to the entire German team and the whole German handball nation.

Groetzki himself will have a big influence on that.

Blaz Janc, Slovenia

PGE Vive Kielce may not have lived up to their own and others’ expectations so far in the VELUX EHF Champions League, but Blaz Janc can certainly not be blamed for that.

Turned only 21 recently, Janc has been regarded as one of the best right wings of the world. This season, he joined Kielce from the traditional Slovenian club, RK Celje Pivovarna Lasko.

He left Celje as top scorer in the SEHA League, and after his move to Poland, he has continued to prove his skills in Kielce as well as in the Slovenian national team.

At the 2016 Rio Olympics, he played an important part in Slovenian’s successful run to the quarter-finals. And at the World Championship 2017 in France, he had an even bigger impact when Slovenia surprisingly earned the bronze medal.

His elegant style, his powerful leaps from the right wing position, his variety of shots, and his eye for the goalkeeper’s movements are all qualities, which have prompted many experts to rank Blaz Janc as the most talented right wing in Europe.

It is a question, however, if Janc can still be called a talent. He has rather become an established world star.

TEXT: Peter Bruun / br