Surprise: Nürnberg on top again

Her father is German, her mother is from Venezuela, she was born in Paris: Ania Rösler is very international. The star of the German champion, 1. FC Nürnberg, has become a key player in the team of coach Herbert Müller. Despite the many problems before the start – financial and personal ones – Nürnberg are on the top of the Bundesliga league table again.

Ania Rösler is one of the players who led the team to this surprise. In an exclusive interview with Eurohandball.com, the 24-year old backcourt player talks also about the chances of the club in the Champions League.

Eurohandball.com: In case someone would have told you a few weeks before the start of the Bundesliga that your club would be on top after four matches, what would you have said?

Rösler: It’s really surprising for us too that we are leading the table with four victories from four matches – especially after playing against the big favourites, HC Leipzig. Nobody expected such a good performance after losing some of our key players and nobody knew before the start how strong we could be. But now we are on top, and I hope we stay there for a long time.

Eurohandball.com: What is the share in the success of your coach Herbert Müller?

Rösler: It’s hard to say, but he kept the team together in a very critical situation. Without him most of the players would not have stayed in Nürnberg. …Including me. He did everything for the club.

Eurohandball.com: It was also a surprise for experts that you stayed in Nürnberg, as you had a great offer from the Danish top club, Viborg HK. Why did you decide so?

Rösler: I had a meeting with the representatives of Viborg before the season and it might have been a great chance for me. But I talked to our coaches and I wanted to have an honest answer and their advice. They said that it was a great chance to play at an international top club, but they also said it might be too early for me. So it was a very hard decision for me, but in the end I think I did it right. I want to improve and play with continuity in the Bundesliga. I want to become a key player here in Nürnberg. In addition, I can finish my studies here. What happens after this season, I don’t know. I may change club, but it’s too early to talk about it at the moment.

Eurohandball.com: It’s the first time in your career to play in the Champions League this season. Due to financial aspects, it was not clear for a long time if Nürnberg could play in the CL. What do you expect from this international experience?

Rösler: It was my dream to play in the Champions League as for the rest of the team. I will enjoy it very much, as a lot of international top class players did not have a chance to play in the CL before. So it’s a great adventure for us, but we also know, that we do not have enough players cope with the burden of playing in the Bundesliga and in the Champions League at the same time. So we have to see, if it’s not too hard for us.

Eurohandball.com: Bojana Popovic from Viborg, who made the draw of the group matches in Vienna, doesn’t seem to be a supporter of the 1. FC Nürnberg: she put you in a very tough group…

Rösler: Oh yes, I think we have to play in the hardest group that we have. We’re the underdogs against opponents such as Zvezda or Krim Ljubljana. I don’t think we have a chance to make it to the second group phase, especially considering our situation. But as our coach said, we want to give our best and see what happens. Maybe it’s possible for us to cause a surprise against one of the big clubs. On the other hand, these matches are broadcast on television. It will be a completely new thing for Nürnberg. So we have the chance to show what we are able to do and maybe some new sponsors will also be attracted to us.

Eurohandball.com: Before the start of the Bundesliga, the official objective of the club was to avoid relegation. Now Nürnberg is on top. Do you change the objective now?

Rösler: Maybe the official objective was this, but my objective was to reach the league play-offs. I think it’s possible. We lost some players, but we will get two very important players back at the beginning of 2008. The world class Steffi Ofenböck will return after from childbirth and our national player, Christina Rohde, will return after a long injury. We have to keep the pace until January and then we’ll see what happens. I hope we can defend our title in Germany.