Ludwigshafen. Never behind and even in the front: on Matchday 4 of the 2nd Handball Bundesliga, Eulen Ludwigshafen scored a 31:29 (17:17) victory after an excellent collective performance at SG BBM Bietigheim. In front of 1596 spectators, Max Haider is the most successful owl thrower with seven shots. Notable: the captain of the owl makes seven shots, scores seven goals. After four games he has 16 goals on his account – with 16 shots. A dream share: 100 percent return. “Statistics don’t interest me, the important thing is that in the end we have one more goal than the opponent and we reward ourselves and our fans who were there last year …” said the captain. Haider and colleagues lost their last guest game at the Aegean Trans Arena after a desolate first half (8:15) at 15:22. “Max was strong in attack, yes, he used free space, which was important. Max can do even better in defense, we were too passive there, including him. They come in because we were too passive,” explained coach Michel Abt. More than half a hundred people celebrated the away victory in the standings. The eighth man, powered by Eulen-Manolo Oliver Provo, helped throughout the 60 minutes.
Happy and content
“Fortuna yes,” said Eulen coach Michel Abt after his first win of the young season and he felt it in every single player after the congratulatory pitch, after the televised interview and chat with the former Friesenheimer. Dominik, very strong, especially Claus before the break, how happy he was. Satisfaction with the performance, satisfaction with the courage of the boys, who showed that the training was paying off, that they could successfully play handball of the “Abt” brand. “The team had faith in me. I had faith in the team,” said the manager, who always manages to use his time-outs to control the game intelligently. This was also the case in Bietigheim, where tactical variability also proved decisive in the game. The use of the outer seventh, the well-coordinated work of Max Haider and Sergej Gorpishin on the circle paid off. Before the start of the final minute, the model athlete Haider had secured the lead of two goals: 30:28. SG coach Iker Romero has relied on the coverage of the open men. 25 seconds before the end of the second division thriller, Abt called the third time-out. Then the counterattack – 31:28 by Pascal Durak. The game was decided, won at the end with 31:29. Michel Abt was happy, satisfied, he was enjoying himself. He also likes to see handball “like a little game of chess”. His features parted. Even with Tim Schaller, who surprisingly started and played after Enes Keskic’s good performance in Potsdam and Lion Zacharias’ return to the squad. “A left wing that only gives gas. The overall package makes you super satisfied, “praised the 23-year-old Abt, who had a 100 percent stake: four shots, four goals (4/2).” It gives you a great feeling when you feel the confidence, “said Schaller. Strong also the functioning of the variant with the seventh field player, the passage from 6 to 7 and vice versa. “You saw Bührer robbed, the match with the seventh field player suits him better than anyone else”, enthused the captain Haider, Bührer, the confused player!
The instinctive decision for Ašanin
The coach was even more pleased with Gorpishin’s effective defense than with Sergey Gorpishin’s work at the club, who only made his debut in Potsdam last week. It was also surprising that Matej Ašanin started in goal and not Žiga Urbič, who made 15 extraordinary saves in Potsdam. “On Friday after training, Matej stood in front of me, I said: you play. It was a courageous decision,” said Michel Abt. Ašanin justified the coach’s confidence with a good performance, eleven saves. “It clears your head up front when you know you have such support in the back,” said Pascal Bührer. “Žiga and I are a beautiful couple,” said Matej Ašanin, underlining the team spirit among the goalkeepers, who support and push each other. The two are colleagues, not rivals. They are good friends – what an amazing combination. “The victory is a reward for our good work in preparation. The team fought for this victory for 60 minutes today in defense and attack,” summed up the goalkeeper. Jannek Klein (two out of four) bravely launched again and again, elaborating the two throws from seven meters. Verbal leader alongside the captain: Jan Remmlinger, who knows that Sebastian Trost (four out of six) has a dangerous attacking midfielder alongside him. Impressive with what coldness Marc-Robin Eisel appears – even outnumbered (three out of three). Great, for example, is Eisel’s allusion to right winger Alex Falk, who scored 12:10 from the circle. After 24:24, Stefan Salger also scored in his short game: 25:24 (48th), which he cleverly put Bührer’s 23:20 (42nd) ahead of him. Die Eulen 2022 – the star is the team!
This is how it should be on Friday 30 September 2022: the guest is the TuS N-Lübbecke relegated to the Bundesliga. The launch will take place at 7:30 pm. ps / bas
