Eggert hopes for maiden voyage to Cologne

SG Flensburg-Handewitt sneaked through by two goals on aggregate against RK Pivovarna Lasko Celje in the Last 16 of the VELUX EHF Champions League thanks in large part to the six goals of Danish left wing Anders Eggert, who was one of the top scorers for SG in the second leg on Saturday. The 2012 EHF EURO champion and three-time major championship silver medallist (EHF EURO 2014, World Championships 2011 and 2013) with Denmark has never been to Cologne, but another opportunity will present itself this season.

In this exclusive interview, Eggert rates the chances of making it to the VELUX EHF FINAL4 and analyses the tough matches with Celje.

ehfCL.com: Did you expect those two very close matches against Celje, won just by two goals on aggregate?

Anders Eggert: Indeed it was a tough piece of work. Celje did a really, really good job, while we caused too many mistakes in the first leg.

We started our mission on home ground with the feeling that we can do better. But again Celje put a lot of pressure on us, forcing us to make mistakes.

So the match was again close for 50 minutes, before we relatively easily clinched the berth for the quarter-finals.

ehfCL.com: At half-time Flensburg were away by only one goal – how was the mood in the locker room?

Anders Eggert: A match always takes 60 minutes and we were absolutely sure that we would make it.

Somehow we would manage it at a certain time was our motto. And when we scored a three on the run to be ahead by five, we knew that was that, but we had to work hard for this success.

ehfCL.com: What were the keys to being victorious?

Anders Eggert: Our defence worked well in the second half, our goalkeeper Mattias Andersson did a good job. Our attack did not play as well as we usually do – but in the end it was enough.

ehfCL.com: What did Andersson prefer as a present from the team for his birthday on Saturday - a win or a cake?

Anders Eggert: Definitely not the cake…

ehfCL.com: On Tuesday your opponent for the quarter-finals will be drawn in Vienna. Do you have any preferences?

Anders Eggert: We will definitely face one of four very strong teams from pot 1. To compete with a German team would mean a short and easy trip, but in the end it is boring to face a club from your league. So I would prefer an opponent we usually do not face that often like Barcelona or Veszprem.

ehfCL.com: The quarter-final matches are the last steps towards the VELUX EHF FINAL4 .SG Flensburg-Handewitt never made it to Cologne. Will the time have come this year?

Anders Eggert: We all hope to bring our international journey to an end in Cologne. On paper we are not the best team, but in 2013 we were highly close to going all the way, as we were leading at Hamburg, but did not do enough in the end. So we were close to beat the eventual champions, which shows that we in general have the quality to go on. So hopefully the time will come this year.

ehfCL.com: Flensburg still can hope for three titles in the VELUX EHF Champions League, the German Bundesliga and the German cup – which competition is in focus?

Anders Eggert: Not a particular competition, but always the next match is in focus. In this case it is the cup semi-final against Rhein Neckar Löwen in Hamburg. So we focus on this game. In the Bundesliga our hunt on THW Kiel is not looking that good, as they are too far away – but we are ready, if they stumble. So the German Cup seems to be the easiest way to win a title this season, but also in this competition the hurdles are high. In both cup competitions our fate is in our own hands.