Svensson: I cried when I received the news

Six times EHF Champions League winner, twice world champion, three times EHF EURO champion, three times Olympic finalist – only a highly rare number of handball players can look back upon such a long list of silverware in their career. The 45-year old Swedish goalkeeper Tomas Svensson holds those records – and therefore is among the “Ultimate selection" from 20 years of EHF Champions League.

He started his career at Swedish side Eskilstuna, before he transferred to Atlético Madrid in 1990. From 1992 on he played for Bidasoa Irun, winning his first ever EHF Champions League trophy in 1995, before he was part of the “golden generation” of FC Barcelona for seven seasons. From 2002 on he was a goalkeeper of the German side HSV Hamburg, before Svensson returned to Spain.

With Portland San Antonio he was part of his eighth (and last) EHF Champions League final in 2006. Later he changed for Valladolid, before he returned to Germany in 2011 – with a “double mission” at Rhein Neckar Löwen as goalkeeper and assistant coach. In 2012 – at the age of 44 – he officially ended his career, being only on the Löwen bench, and just celebrated the EHF Cup trophy with his club.

The goalkeeper wore the Swedish jersey in more than 300 international matches.

And Svensson holds an all-time record: He is the only player by now, who won six consecutive EHF Champions League titles from 1995 to 2000 – and was part of seven straight Champions League finals (1995-2001).

During the VELUX EHF FINAL4 in Cologne he will receive the award for the goalkeeper of the 20 years of the EHF Champions League.

ehfCL.com: What was your first reaction, when you were informed about you award?

Tomas Svensson: When FINAL4 manager David Szlezak, whom I know from his time at Rhein Neckar Löwen, phoned me, it was an incredible news. I cried nearly for one hour. This award is really the icing on the cake of my long career. To be honest: This award means more to me than any other title I had won before. I did not even know that this ultimate team will be selected and so I never thought about getting an award after I had finished my career. Just brilliant! And considering that the top coaches of the world of handball selected and nominated this team, it is even a bigger honour, which makes me feel absolutely proud. This award has a superb relevance for me, the biggest success ever.

ehfCL.com: If you take a look back on 20 years of EHF Champions League the competition in the goal was really strong, wasn't it?

Tomas Svensson: Not only highly strong, extra-ordinary strong. Thierry Omeyer, David Barrufet, with whom I shared the room on away trips for seven years, Arpad Sterbik, Kasper Hvidt, Danijel Saric, Jose Hombrados or Dejan Peric – there are so many world class goalkeepers, who could have been selected for this team. Every one of them would have deserved this award. Look at Peric, he played 16 seasons in the Champions League, an incredible balance. So I believe that it was anything but an easy job for the panel to find out the awardees.

ehfCL.com: You won your first ever Champions League title with Bidasoa Irun in 1995. Was it the greatest trophy in your life?

Tomas Svensson: The first title in any competition is always the best, as in this case it was absolutely unexpected. We were a club from a small village – and we won the major club competition of the world, in the same year we became Spanish champions. Today a story like this is absolutely impossible in the world of sport or the world of handball. It was a dream coming true for me, as it was even my first ever year in Champions League.

ehfCL.com: Then you transferred to “big” FC Barcelona, which means the upcoming five EHF Champions League titles were much more expected…

Tomas Svensson: Not when I arrived. We started our project at point zero with a team with no major stars. Of course the expectations in Barcelona were higher as in the little village of Irun. But finally we were just a strong team, which grew and grew, led by maybe the best ever handball coach in the world, Valero Rivera. The first Champions League title was a surprise, but then we were absolutely perfectly rehearsed as a team. So before I will be awarded in Cologne I have to say a big thank you to all of my coaches, who paved the way for my long career, especially Valero Rivera and Bengt Johansson, who was for 16 years my coach in the Swedish national team. This award belongs also to them and to all my former team mates – without them I would have been nothing.

ehfCL.com: Which EHF Champions League title with FC Barcelona was the most memorable one?

Tomas Svensson: Of course, title number three, because it was a historic one. None of those handball giant teams in the earlier years  - like Gummersbach, Šabac or Großwallstadt -  managed to win a European Cup trophy three times in a row. So we made history in that moment, adding even two more trophies on our tally. But everybody knew that every series would come to an end, so we missed the sixth straight title in 2001 in the finals against Portland San Antonio.

ehfCL.com: You will meet Andrei Xepkin, one of your teammates from Barcelona, in Cologne at the award ceremony. A special moment?

Tomas Svensson: Andrei is really the greatest of all, winning this trophy incredible seven times. But I am really looking forward to meet all those handball heroes of two decades, those icons, those legends. And of course I congratulate all of them. They made it – like me – despite a opposition none of us never had before in any all star teams. Just remember all possible winners on all positions, and you will see how hard it must have been for the jury to decide.

ehfCL.com: Despite your age of 45 you still were playing at Rhein Neckar Löwen until the last season…

Tomas Svensson: Yes, I still felt fit, but at one certain point it was time to say good-bye. But even in this season I was nominated for some matches, when our goalkeeper Goran Stojanović was injured. But officially I am only assistant and goalkeepers coach.

ehfCL.com: And in 2011 you had your last ever VELUX EHF Champions League match in the Löwen goals…

Tomas Svensson: Yes, it was the Wild Card tournament in Kielce, when we missed the qualification for the Group Phase. My last “real” Champions League match was in 2010/11 season for Valladolid.

ehfCL.com: Looking back on 23 years of professional handball: What was the biggest achievement?

Tomas Svensson: The career itself was the biggest achievement – and now to be awarded in this ultimate EHF Champions League team. I am so happy about this incredible long era to be in top handball, to meet so many friends through handball, to gain so much experience for my life – and now to get this award is really the icing on the cake, as I never ever expected this award after the end of my career.

ehfCL.com: Wouldn’t it be interesting to have a match with the “Ultimate selection” in Cologne?

Tomas Svensson: Oh god! I think most of us are glad that we do not have to play, but the tactics in this match would be quite easy: All balls to Filip Jicha and Olafur Stefansson, because they should still be fit enough….

Goalkeeper - Tomas Svensson (SWE)
EHF Champions League winner in 1995 with Bidasoa Irun; 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000 with FC Barcelona, Three silver at Olympic Games (1992/1996/2000), two gold (1990/1999), silver (2001) and two bronze (1993/1995) at World Championships, three gold medals (1994/2000/2002) at EHF European Championships with Sweden.