Ups and downs of Saint-Raphaël

Saint-Raphaël Var Handball met a huge disappointment this weekend for their first match in the EHF Cup. Having lost in the final of the Wild Card Tournament of the VELUX EHF Champions League at the beginning of the season, they earned the right to start at the last qualification round of the EHF Cup. The draw gave them the Danish Team Tvis Holstebro as their first opponents.

Maybe because of underestimation of the Holstebro´s level or maybe for another reason, however, they lost 19:35 in Denmark, a huge difference that will be hardly possible to erase next weekend in the return match on their home court.

Anders Petersen played very well in the goal of Team Tvis, allowing hosts to have a great start, leading 10:2 after fifteen minutes and 17:7 at half time. Wingers Magnus Bramming (7 goals) and Patrick Wiesmach Larsen (6 goals) had a particulary good game.

"I'm hugely disappointed by our attitude, I think some of the players were not concentrated enough. Our opponents, on the contrary, played the game of their lives and did not slow down for 60 minutes. I was well impressed by this team," coach Christian Gaudin said for La Provence newspaper.

Bad news from Denmark was counterbalanced a little bit by another recruit news for the southern France team. After enrolling Arnór Atlason, the staff announced the signature of Morten Olsen for the next two seasons.

The Danish centre back, currently in his third season in Hannover-Burgdorf, is the second best scorer of the German league at the moment, with 7.9 goals per match.
 
"The French handball style has attracted me for years, and I'm glad I will learn a new way to play.With a new start in France, I hope I can develop my game more and that it will allow me to reach the national team," Olsen said to TV2, the Danish television.
 
Gaudin told the official website of the club: "It's great that we can have such a talented player in our squad. I'm sure he will adapt very fast and be a player as essential as he is in Hannover."

Photo: msfoto.dk