It was a typical Hans Lindberg. Again and again the Danish veteran went for the seven-meter penalty, and again and again he demonstrated his throwing variety by putting the ball in the goal via layer, lifter or spinner. With his ten goals, the 42-year-old Dane was a significant factor in the Füchse’s 29:26 (16:12) win against VfL Gummersbach on Sunday afternoon, which took the next important step towards Champions League qualification.
After a quarter of an hour we were in the lead with three goals
But it wasn’t just Lindberg who demonstrated his top class with his almost flawless performance, the rest of the team was also there from the start against the seventh in the table. Goalkeeper Dejan Milosavljev had already made seven saves by the break, Mathias Gidsel showed once again why he was voted World Handball Player this year and half-left Lasse Andersson also impressed with his throwing ability. Meanwhile, Max Darj once again demonstrated his fighting spirit in defense and attack. As a result, the Berliners were already in the lead with three goals after just under a quarter of an hour, while the guests around national player Julian Köster once again made mistakes.
It was a tough game and we had to fight for 60 minutes.
Hans Lindbergright winger for the Foxes
As the game progressed, the 8,735 people present in the Max-Schmeling-Halle continued to see an exciting game in which both defensive lines gave each other little attention and Gummersbach fought their way to 21:20 with 14 minutes to go. The guests even took the lead in the 53rd minute – but it was Lindberg who equalized seconds later to make it 24:24 and then immediately took the lead. Nervousness seems to be a foreign word for him; the right winger only missed one ball.
“It was a tough game and we had to fight for 60 minutes. We believed in ourselves and didn’t rush,” said Lindberg after the game.
In the end, the Foxes showed that they had learned from their recent setbacks and kept their focus until the end. With a team effort, the team fought for victory and secured second place in the table before the international break.