New episode of love-hate triangle

It is impossible to tell the story of a match between Hamburg and Flensburg in isolation, without reflecting upon the history and geographical location of three teams. Located in the northern extremes of Germany a triumvirate of clubs have vied for supremacy.

Hamburg, Flensburg and Kiel are the “holy trinity” of handball powers in Germany. Continuously over the past ten years they have shared the crown of national champions, with Kiel the obvious standout team. But Hamburg has broken the run in 2011, whereas the last win for Flensburg was way back in 2004.

Geographically, they form a triangle at the tip of Germany, with Flensburg at the apex. This is about as far as Flensburg has come to dominating the other two in the last number of years, apart from the odd cup win.

The matches between all teams draw huge crowds, as all are considered derbies. There has been some watering down of the importance of these games in recent years, particularly between HSV and SG as they met an unprecedented seven times last year, between league, cup, group phase and knockout stage of the CL.

I wrote, last year, that they must be sick of the sight of each other.

However many times they are matched, the “bragging rights” are still vital to the teams. This was never more obvious than when Flensburg almost overcame a 6 goal home defeat in the away match of the quarter-finals last year. I have mentioned it before, but it’s worth reiterating, that after the game I saw coach Vranjes sitting alone by the team bus looking like the world had just caved in. His words still resonate with me ... “I will win this thing”

I believed him. The question is whether he meant that he would dominate the “love-hate triangle” of northern Germany or the CL. You get the feeling they are inextricably linked. Reign supreme over the “Troika” and the chances are good you will reign in Europe.

It must be difficult to swallow as a Flensburg fan that Hamburg is now a European winner. They probably consider themselves the runt of the litter at this moment in time, knowing that they had a chance, twice, in ‘04 and ’07 to win a European crown, but couldn’t fall over the finishing line, being defeated in the former by Celje and the latter by Kiel.

Whereas once Flensburg could say they had won a national title, Hamburg has now matched that. They can’t even claim to have been the first of the three in a CL final as Kiel pipped them to that honour in ’00.

Indeed, northern tip of Germany has become a kind of “Bermuda Triangle” for Flensburg, into which they are sinking without trace. The fans are now sick of the sight of the other two having conquered Europe.

But all is not lost for SG.

They have the most settled team of the three, having made the fewest changes over the summer and in coach Vranjes they have a man who understands fighting. Having been told on numerous occasions he was too small to play handball, he proved all doubters wrong and this has imbued in him a sense of the “never-say-die”.

He is a master tactician and in my opinion one of the truly gifted coaches in world handball. His ability to marshal his team regardless of missing personnel is magical and his eye for talent is second to none considering his far smaller budget.

The opening line of Homer’s “The Odyssey “comes to mind

Sing in me, Muse, and through me tell the story
of that man skilled in all ways of contending.
His muse is handball, his story, perhaps the CL.

The counterpoint is that Schwalb is a great motivator and man-manager and has reached all the goals he has set for the club. A national title and a CL! The difficulty is to stay at the top once you get there. Just ask Gislason at Kiel. He has, however, begun rebuilding a team that is starting to gel and is looking more and more dangerous, although they have lost to both their local rivals in the league this season.

Flensburg comes to this game on the back of a victory against Hamburg last Sunday. A 31:29 win puts them in a very good psychological place for what will be a top of the table clash and will determine who is just ahead for the return leg 5 days later in Flensburg.

Three games, (one might say a “triangle of games”) in the space of two weeks is enough to make even the most ardent fan weak at the thought of having to face each other again. For the purist amongst us, it is an elixir, a chance to see the best of the best. To see how each meeting differs from the last. To see how each coach deals with the tribulations of the preceding game.

We are ringside for a great match. The accepted theorem is that Kiel and Hamburg are the top dogs. My axiom (assumed without proof) is that Vranjes can change all that. Flensburg fans, be cautious, but rejoice.

Q.E.D. (quod erat demonstrandum)