Kristensen: “Veszprém Arena was one of the places I dreamed of playing”

“Let’s say we have done a pretty good first part of the season. It’s our first experience in the competition, and while I have not been surprised by our playing level, I am a bit more that we are so consistent,” says their Norwegian goalkeeper Andrè Kristensen, referring to the current iteration of the team.

Kristensen has been decisive many times for his team. For instance, when Sporting defeated Paris Saint-Germain by 11 goals, 39:28, in November, he made 17 saves.

“I am very happy about how the season has gone so far. I have not changed much in the way I play — this season is just the follow-up to the previous ones, but at a higher level,” says the 24-year-old, who has been playing for Sporting for three seasons now.

While to outsiders Sporting’s results might have been a little bit surprising, to Kristensen, the Portuguese side was almost built to reach EHF Champions League heights.

“We have a lot of talent, and we have worked together for quite some time now. I always thought, even in my first season here, that Sporting had enough talent to play the Champions League,” he says. “The only thing that I am amazed by is our consistency, because it is one thing to beat Paris or Veszprém one week, but to repeat it over a long period of time is something completely different.”

Thanks to his performances, Kristensen gained the right to play with Norway at the last World Championship — his first major tournament with his national team. Not scared of the big world circus, the 24-year-old made 21 saves over the six games Norway played in the competition.

“It was amazing. A huge honour to be able to represent my country. Just like playing the EHF Champions League, playing with my national team had been a goal for a long time. I felt really welcome by everyone and I will do everything to be able to play with Norway again,” says Kristensen.

But before thinking about the national team again, there are games to play with Sporting, including the Match of the Week on Thursday in Veszprém. Currently, the Portuguese side are second in group A — five points behind the Hungarian powerhouse — but the players still believe in their chances.

“We saw in the past few months that anything was possible in this competition — that everyone could beat everyone. This is exactly the mentality we are going to Veszprém with. We are really humble but we are also ambitious,” explains Kristensen, who has been very much enjoying playing against iconic teams in iconic arenas since September.

“I was watching these Champions League games when I was young. The Veszprém Arena is one of these that you see and you dream about playing in, because the fans are so loud and it is so much a part of handball history.”

But trust Kristensen not to be too upset by the enthusiasm of the Veszprém fans because, as he puts it: “We have very passionate ones in Lisbon as well, we are spoiled on this topic. They give us extra motivation every game we play.”

Photos: Sporting CP; Heiko Voigt / Foto Lächler