Hernandez’s arc in Time for Champions is a more emotional one, as he shares intimate details of his family life, after being adopted from an orphanage in Russia, living in Denmark with his Spanish parents and starting his handball career in Spain. Chasing his handball dreams took him to Magdeburg, where he hoped to fulfil a meaningful promise to win the EHF Champions League.
“How the hell…you come from Kropotkin, Krasnodar from some hopeless orphanage out there to where I am today,” says Hernandez.
“Everyone will have their motivation, their hopes. For me it’s important to win the EHF FINAL4 because I promised it to myself when my father died.
“Settling that doubt with myself toward him sometimes even feels like a nightmare. Last year, in the semi-final against Aalborg, one of the reasons we lost was because I didn’t think I was playing at EHF FINAL4 level.”
Hernandez’s teammate Kristjansson looks back on their victory in 2023, when he dislocated his shoulder in the semi-final but then led the team to the final win and was named MVP of the EHF FINAL4 — for the first time, as he nabbed the individual award again in 2025.
“With every pass, I felt like ‘oh shit,’” recalls Kristjansson. “I experienced emotions I have never, never felt in my life. Hopefully it will come again.”