Jannick Green “over-excited” to finally break EHF FINAL4 duck

So imagine his excitement when, a couple of weeks ago, Paris Saint-Germain beat THW Kiel in the Machineseeker EHF Champions League quarter-finals to book their ticket for the most anticipated event of the season.

“That was crazy. Even when I played for Magdeburg for a long time, I still thought I would have a chance, one way or the other, to play at the EHF FINAL4. And when Paris called and I signed my contract, I definitely thought that there was finally an opportunity,” recalls Green.

Funnily enough, Green’s old club SCM also made it to Cologne, but will play in the other semi-final on Saturday, against titleholders Barça.

Even though Jannick Green might have played in the Olympics final with Denmark, as well as a World Championship final in front of a home crowd in Herning, this feels yet a little bit different. 20,000 people squeezed into an arena to witness four games and the best players in the world on the court, Green has never experienced anything quite like it.

“Even people I know that are not too much into handball have been there and told me how crazy an event that was. I’m really over-excited to be part of it,” says Green.

This season, Jannick Green played in the Champions League for the first time in nine years, as he only played the European League with former club Magdeburg. Not only did he miss the trademark music of the pre-game show, but the 34-year-old was actually very quick to show he was up to playing at that level.

His performances were crucial for the French side, as Green pulled out impressive performances in the quarter-final against THW Kiel to help Paris book their ticket to Cologne.

It also did not do any harm that Jannick Green met another Scandinavian goalkeeper in Paris, Andreas Palicka. While the two crossed paths many times in the German Bundesliga in the past, they had never the opportunity to really sit down and have a chat. But since last August, things moved in the right direction.

“Our family bonded really and Andreas and me have a lot in common, not only handball-wise. It’s been great help for me to have someone I can communicate with, and I guess this is also true the other way around.”

Maybe Andreas Palicka can give Jannick Green a tip or two about winning the FINAL4, as the Swede lifted the trophy twice, in 2010 and 2012. Or maybe the pair will just, in the first place, try to progress from the semi-final against Kielce to the final.

“From what I’ve been told - I’ve never been there - there are no favourites in Cologne,” Green laughs. “We expect a great fight against an amazing team. But we also are an amazing team and we have been playing with a lot of confidence over the past few weeks. I expect a great fight and hopefully, I can make it to the final or even more for my first time in Cologne.”