Lund enjoys responsibility

Viborg will be missing Anja Althaus because of a shoulder injury for a couple of weeks. The absence of the key player means increased responsibility for her team mate, Danish international Lene Lund Nielsen. Even though Viborg has Karen Smidt on the line, the 29-year old Lene Lund will probably have to play 60 minutes at both ends of the court.

The upcoming game against Hypo in Denmark will decide the first place in the group. Eurohandball.com talks to Lene Lund before that game.

Eurohandball.com: Anja Althaus is injured, which means that a lot more pressure will be on you. How do you feel about that?

Lene Lund Nielsen: I simply love to play handball and play as much as possible. So I just find it cool!

Eurohandballl.com: The next game will be decisive and you will probably have to play 60 minutes in the defence as well as in attack. Are you ready for that?

Lene Lund Nielsen: Oh yes, I am definitely ready. We are all looking very much forward to that match, even though we know that it will be a very tough. I hope that at least some of our injured and ill players will be fit for that match and we can step on court with a somewhat stronger team than against Ikast (34-29 for Viborg, ed.)

Eurohandball.com: Your team will have to win by three goals in order to take the first place in the group. How do see the chances for that?

Lene Lund Nielsen: When we left the court after the match in Vienna, we actually felt that we were better despite losing by two goals. We really feel that we are the better team and therefore we all agreed that when Hypo will come to Viborg we will give them a hard time.

Eurohandball.com: What is the most important advantage of winning the group?

Lene Lund Nielsen: It would be encouraging, first of all. Of course, it will also be important to play the semi-final second leg at home. However, I don’t think it would matter much which team from Group 2 we will meet.