By Ulrike Krieger
This handball calendar is really crazy.
The Füchse Berlin narrowly lost the Club World Cup final against SC Magdeburg after extra time (32:34) on Sunday and two of them had to play the next handball game just 24 hours later.
The U21 world champions Leave Ludwig and Moritz Sauter (both 21) have the next ball duel on Monday evening at 7.30 p.m. and have to play against Eintracht Hagen with VfL Potsdam in the second division.
That’s why the two of them, plus A-youth talent Silas Overby (18), didn’t fly back with the Füchse team, but were given a special travel route.
Back three hours faster
After the game, their flight went from Dammam (Saudi Arabia) to Istanbul (Turkey) and from there to Berlin (flight time seven hours). The three therefore ended up a good three hours ahead of the Füchse team.
The team with coach Jaron Siewert (29), desert local time, started the journey home to Berlin via Doha (eight hours on the plane).
Füchse coach Jaron Siewert would have liked to win the final of the Club World Cup Photo: picture alliance/Marco Wolf
Füchse managing director Bob Hanning (55): “The boys were still two hours late, almost missed their connecting flight, but landed in Berlin at midday and are now getting an hour of physiotherapy and a few hours of sleep.”
Hanning continued: “It is still unclear whether Lasse Ludwig and Moritz Sauter will be on the roster this evening. The idea is that they are playing, but it is far from clear whether they can actually play. We’re now preparing for the game without them. Lasse is currently the second man for our Foxes due to Viktor Kireev’s injury. He didn’t train in Potsdam, but if we can play with Lasse, of course we will.”