Ten years ago, Füchse Berlin managed the handball miracle against Leon

Berlin – Iker Romero motivated the crowd again, driving them on with his inimitable style. A few seconds earlier, the Spaniard had given his team a 20:10 lead with a penalty throw and at that moment at the latest it became clear: The foxes can still make it into the semi-finals of the Champions League despite the clear 23:34 defeat at Ademar Leon. And that’s how it happened in the unforgettable game ten years ago, which was won 29:18 and triggered a lavish celebration in Berlin’s Max-Schmeling-Halle.

This scenario, which happened on April 29, 2012, is still one of the most triumphant moments in the club’s history and prompted the foxes to call together some of the former players around captain Torsten Laen for a video call (from Saturday on the foxes channel) and to to ask for an exchange. First finding: the memories may still be alive, but time has not passed all of them without a trace. With a big smile, Romero had to admit that he had gained 13 kilograms since then while watching the game together. “And the hair was once more,” admits the now 41-year-old, who currently holds the coaching position at SG BBM Bietigheim.

Simple tactic, great success

With his unbridled optimism, it was Romero who, shortly after that devastating defeat in Spain, repeatedly encouraged his teammates. And already on the bus back, the foxes, led by their coach Dagur Sigurdsson, were working on a tactic for the desired victory in the second leg. In hindsight, the approach sounds almost too simple. “We had planned to divide the game into four quarters, each of which we wanted to win with three goals. That seemed easier to us than tackling the eleven goals right away,” says Sigurdsson.

In addition to the tactical attitude, the encounter in Berlin became a question of honor. The team didn’t want to go under again without a word and present themselves in top form. Above all, however, they wanted to show it to the Spaniards, whom they had met on a nightly stroll through the city after the first leg. “They were quite cocky and boasted that they could buy their tickets to the Final Four. That was a thorn in my heart,” Silvio Heinevetter recalls. Motivated to the core, the goalkeeper currently under contract in Melsungen played himself into a frenzy.

An intoxication that also emanated from the large audience. “The fox’s den was on fire from the start,” recalls defense chief Sven-Sören Christophersen at the time. “The fans kept whipping us, showing on folding boards how many goals still had to be made up.” The eleven gradually became a zero – until after the final whistle fans and players alike hugged each other and won the game together celebrated. “That was something really outstanding, one of the most beautiful games I’ve seen with the foxes,” says managing director Bob Hanning today, who says he can’t remember the celebration that followed.

The right mix

He had the team at that time all the more clearly in mind. The young Fabian Wiede, who, like Paul Drux, was able to record his first professional appearances. Captain Torsten Laen, who went ahead calmly and yet determinedly. The great sportsman Iker Romero as well as strategist Dagur Sigurdsson with his legendary tactics board.

“The composition was just right at the time,” says the managing director, whose well-known wish is to compete in the Champions League again soon. Currently in third place behind THW Kiel with the same number of points, there is still a chance in the final sprint of the league. “However, I don’t think THW will give up another point,” Hanning is realistic and at the same time refers to the upcoming challenge for the Berliners against leaders SC Magdeburg (Sunday, 2 p.m. / Sky). But everything is possible. Sport shows that again and again, as the Foxes’ game proved ten years ago.