Two debutants and a fourth star for Titi

“Ole, hier kommt der THW” (Ole, here comes THW) was chanted by nearly 20,000 voices, the fans were already standing on their seats minutes before the final whistle, the entire LANXESS arena appeared to be coloured in black and white. It was an incredible, spine-tingling atmosphere that imprinted the final of the 2012 VELUX EHF FINAL4 in Cologne.

“I almost never experienced an atmosphere like this, it was the day of all days,” says Thierry Omeyer as he reminds himself of what happened on this particular Sunday of this particular weekend in 2012 and he speaks in superlatives: “Although every title is something special, this final victory was the absolute icing on the cake, a super Sunday, simply incredible.”

The 26:21 victory against Atletico Madrid in the final, THW Kiel’s second win in Cologne, their third EHF Champions League title and Titi’s fourth individual title was the culmination of a season nobody ever will forget in Kiel.

The catalyst was an unsuccessful 2010/11 season, during which Kiel was dethroned in the Bundesliga by HSV Hamburg and they had missed the qualification for the VELUX EHF FINAL4.

With the new season in sight, the squad was invited to the island of Reunion, home of their player Daniel Narcisse.

And everybody who talks about this sensational season 2011/12 says that La Reunion was the starting point, where coach Alfred Gislason implemented their unbeatable tactics. At the end of the season, THW became the first (and to date only) team to win 34 from 34 matches in German Bundesliga, they won the German cup and the VELUX EHF Champions League.

“We were so eager to win this treble, we were so focused, and eventually we took it. Simply sensational,” Omeyer says today.

“To win the Champions League in Cologne is one of the greatest moments you can have in your career, but to conclude a season like this by raising this trophy is stunning.”

Debutants dare to dream

Two VELUX EHF Champions League debutants also made their mark that season by making it all the way to the marquee event, Füchse Berlin (Germany) and AG Kobenhavn (Denmark).

The “Foxes” had turned around the biggest first leg deficit in a Champions League quarter-final to book their ticket to Cologne. After a 23:34 defeat at Ademar Leon, they overran the Spaniards 29:18 at home and qualified for Cologne thanks to the away goals rule.

Meanwhile, AG Kobenhavn made history in a different manner by playing their first leg of the quarter-final against FC Barcelona in the Parken Stadium with a record for EHF Competition of 21,300 spectators in attendance. The record crowd drove their local heroes to beat the defending champions 29:23, which proved to be enough after a 33:36 loss in the second leg.

Both sides’ title challenge came to a half in the semi-finals. Füchse gave Kiel a fright until the very end as they lost 24:25, while Kobenhavn were defeated by Atletico Madrid 25:23.

“It was really hard for us to beat Berlin. They had nothing to lose, we were the clear favourites and after a brilliant start everything seems to be settled, but then we were close to elimination,” explains Omeyer, adding: “Filip Jicha was simply incredible,” The 2010 World Handball Player of the Year saved the day with 11 goals against Füchse.

Relief and revenge

When it came to the final, the French goalkeeper was the key when it came to deciding the match in his team’s favour, as he had done many times before and many times since: “We only conceded 21 goals against Madrid, this was it.”

Seven goals from Kim Andersson paved the way to the winners’ podium, leaving Madrid coach Talant Dujshebaev empty-handed for the third straight season - in 2010 his team lost the semi-final against Kiel, in 2011 they lost the final against Barcelona.

Winning against Madrid (former name Ciudad Real) was a relief and revenge for Omeyer and Kiel: “In 2008 and 2009 we had lost the finals against them. To beat them in the 2010 semi was one step, but to beat them in the final was a kick for us.”

While Omeyer enjoyed his fourth triumph after the 2003 title with Montpellier and the 2007, 2010 and 2012 hat-trick with Kiel, five more THW players had been part of all three Champions League trophies in club history: Dominik Klein, Christian Zeitz, Hendrik Lundström, Marcus Ahlm and Kim Andersson.

In 2013, Omeyer and Kiel arrived as the clear favourites in Cologne, tipped to be the first team to defend their title, but they “were not strong enough” and failed.

A failed defence of the title in 2013 marked Omeyer’s farewell to the club and one year later the four-time World Champion, two-time Olympic champion and three-time EHF EURO champion was part of the EHF Cup Finals with Montpellier, losing the final against Hungary’s Pick Szeged.

Since the 2014/15 season Titi is back in the VELUX EHF Champions League, but failed on the way to Cologne with his new club Paris Saint-Germain against Veszprem in the quarter-finals.

“It was our dream to go to Cologne and were strong in the first leg, but unfortunately for us, Veszprem ware stronger in the second leg. So now we are eager to fight for our first ticket to the VELUX EHF FINAL4 in the next season,” said Omeyer, who has just announced an extension of his contract with the club until 2017 and will be keeping his fingers crossed for his former club in Cologne.

“I believe Kiel have a good chance to win the trophy again, they are strong, they are experienced. However, this year the level of the FINAL4 will be the highest to date with those four top teams from four countries. In 2014, nobody had expected Flensburg to win – and history can repeat itself in 2015.”

If Kiel do manage to win, it will be their first title without Omeyey between the posts.