Sebastian Frandsen: “It will be a challenge”

It might be the first season in the EHF Champions League for the 2023/24 Danish league runners-up, but for goalkeeper Sebastian Frandsen it is not the first participation. In the 2021/22 and 2022/23 seasons, the Dane played in the EHF Champions League with his former club FC Porto. That’s why he knows what he is talking about, when he mentions his excitement.

“I'm looking forward to it. These are fun games. It will be great to see how our team plays in the EHF Champions League in matches against the best teams in Europe, and not least whether we can stand the distance and whether it can be as good as we might actually feel it is. It is always fun to play in the EHF Champions League, but it will be great to play it with a Danish team."

Fredericia HK have landed in group A, where big matches await — however, there are two matches in particular that the 203cm tall goalkeeper is looking forward to.

“It's always great to play against Paris Saint-Germain. And then I'm looking forward to going to Lisbon, both because it's a nice city, but also because I played in FC Porto for two years and have had many deadly matches against Sporting during those few seasons. It will be fun to get back there, and then with a Danish team."

When the talk turns to the team's goals for the season, there is no doubt.

“As a team, we have a goal to move forward to the knockout phase. We must hope for that, and all teams must hope for that when they are in the EHF Champions League. Personally, I'm looking forward to having some great experiences and doing as good as possible. It will be fun to test it all against the biggest teams."

For Fredericia HK's troops, there are not many who have previously played in the most distinguished tournament in club handball, but there is room for that, Frandsen believes.

“Probably there will be some butterflies in the stomach that have to be played out in the first game, I can remember that for myself. You just have to find out what kind of size the EHF Champions League is, and yet that it is just a handball match, like so many other matches. But there might be, especially in the first game, a few small nerves among many in the team.”

“I have a lot of faith in my teammates and that they can still go in and deliver. The whole team can usually do that. I think they will handle the pressure excellently.”

“I probably have some tips, but I believe that in the long run, you have to make your own experiences. But if anyone needs some advice or help, I know that both myself and my other teammates who have played in the EHF Champions League before are ready to lend a little help. But it's about making one's own experiences and solving things in the ways that work for each of them."

With the first season in international handball for Fredericia HK, it is also the first time that the club has to juggle another major tournament alongside the domestic league — and it will not be without difficulty, believes the former FC Porto player.

“It requires something different from you than when you only play in the domestic tournament. It is definitely going to be a challenge that we have to look at and be good at solving, but like everything else, we have to take it step by step. Maybe it will go really well, maybe it will give us a lot of challenges, so it will be exciting to see."

“I hope we can show that we are a good team. I also hope we can show that we are a team that is there every time and that fights together and for each other, a good team that maybe consists of a few great, well-known players, but that together we make a whole team that works hard every time. And then I also hope that we can perhaps bring some refreshment to the Machineseeker EHF Champions League, with the way we play handball. I hope you can see that, and I hope that even more handball fans in Europe will find out who Fredericia HK is."

The challenges usually also come with a lot of joy, and that joy was especially expressed when Frandsen and his colleagues received the happy news about the upgrade to the EHF Champions League earlier this summer.

“It was fantastic. It was a great message to receive during the summer holidays. We knew we had to play European, so to have the EHF European League upgraded to the EHF Champions League was absolutely fantastic. It was something we had hoped for. We went and talked a bit about it and that the opportunity was there. But since it required an upgrade, there was no telling if it would become a reality. I think there were a few who took it as an expectation, but we all had it as a hope.”

Photos © Fredericia Håndbold Klub (main and in-text)