Five reasons why Kielce ascend the throne

To delete a nine-goal deficit in 15 minutes is nearly impossible in handball – even more if the trailing team fails to convert two penalty throws. Still Vive Tauron Kielce have made it and even beat Veszprem 39:38 after extra-time and 7m throws shootout in the arguably most thrilling Champions League final ever.

ehfCL.com expert Björn Pazen looks back and tries to find the reasons for what had happened in the LANXESS arena on Saturday and Sunday.

The belief and the spirit

“We never give up, we never surrender, we don’t care about the result and we just fight until the end.” This motto could be tattooed on the arms of all Kielce players.

Already in the semi-final against Paris, the team showed an incredible belief in themselves and fighting spirit, one for the other. When they were down 19:28 in the final, the players seemed to be paralyzed, their face were pale and shocked, but then the part of the brain, responsible for motivation and will, said to all of them: go on, fight for your lives, fight for our fans in the arena and at home.

It was similar to Flensburg’s spirit two years ago, when they turned a minus six into a semi-final win over Barcelona.

The talent at the helm

After Talant Dujshebaev won his last EHF Champions League trophy with Ciudad Real, he had to wait for seven years to experience this moment again.

In those years, Ciudad and its successor Atletico Madrid became history. After the end of Atletico, Dujshebaev had so many offers he could have taken, but he decided to wait.

He patiently waited for the right one – for the offer, which would fit perfectly – until Kielce’s president Bertus Serwaas phoned him in January 2014: “Join our project!”

Talant came, saw and conquered. The composition of the team …

continue reading in source www.eurohandball.com