The Rhein-Neckar Löwen are overjoyed. The DHB Cup victory against SC Magdeburg is the culmination of a strong season, but the lions have ticked off the championship title.
“I can’t take it anymore, I’m just empty.” Uwe Gensheimer’s first words after the DHB Cup triumph against SC Magdeburg give an idea of the burden the Rhein-Neckar Löwen must have had after the final of the Fourth tournament. In front of 19,750 fans in Cologne, the lions only took the trophy crown in an absolute thriller in the final – with several match winners.
One of them was Gensheimer himself. With nine goals, he was his team’s top scorer and also hit the first seven-meter penalty in the final shootout, but was relatively calm about it. “The coach said I should take the first one,” the left winger laughed at the end of the game in the direction of his coach Sebastian Hinze, who was also overjoyed.
Lion trainer Hinze: “You can’t paint that”
“You can’t paint that, the way the game went is crazy,” said Hinze, about the Lions’ second cup success after 2018. Shortly before the end, Hinze’s team lost their lead, which they were able to hold for almost the entire game. Magdeburg even had the chance to take the lead from the seven-meter line in the final seconds of the game. It was thanks to David Späth that the lions made it into overtime.
The 20-year-old goalkeeper parried the seven-meter penalty – and was speechless after the game. “I can’t put everything into words yet. It’s just an amazing feeling, I don’t even know what to say.” But then the goalkeeper talent found words of praise for his goalkeeper colleagues Joel Birlehm and Mikael Appelgren. “We are a team, work together every day and I learn a lot from both of them and everyone is happy for everyone,” says Späth.
Reward after hard phase
In the seven-meter throw, however, it was Birlehm who took Späth’s example and parried Magdeburg’s fourth and decisive seven-meter throw. “You dream of something like today. It’s crazy,” said the visibly moved Birlehm after the game. “I’m just happy because we’ve eaten a lot of shit in the last few weeks, that it was enough today and that we rewarded ourselves today.”
The lions had lost their good starting position in the championship race in the past few weeks with four defeats in a row. They are currently in fifth place. “Attacking properly again in the title race is absolutely unrealistic with a six-point deficit to the top,” said Coach Hinze with a view to the league goals. But that didn’t dampen the mood on Sunday, as event manager Birlehm hinted at the cup party: “On the first team evening that I organized, David and I opened the dance floor. That can happen again today.”
Sympathy with Magdeburg
Middle man Juri Knorr also showed greatness in victory by showing sympathy for the losers. “It was a game for the history books. I’m extremely sorry for Magdeburg,” said Knorr, who had sensed the impending defeat himself. “It was an amazing fight, both deserved to win today.” His team just had that little bit of luck today.