Berlin Celebrates All Night Long: Fulfilling the Nickname Dream
Füchse Berlin Make History, Claim First-Ever Bundesliga Title
Mannheim - The underdogs of German handball, Füchse Berlin, crushed expectations and stormed onto the court after a nail-biting final match, securing their long-awaited first championship title. As the SAP Arena erupted with cheers, sport director Stefan Kretzschmar and Füchse boss Bob Hanning embraced, their faces etched with joy and relief. Around 1,500 fans in Berlin watched the historic handball moment on a large screen at a public viewing event.
Mathias Gidsel, the hero of the hour, couldn't contain his emotions as he addressed the fans, "I wanna celebrate this with my girl and my family first, but let's party all night!" He went on to describe the journey as the toughest step yet, slowing his words in a heartfelt Dyn microphone monologue. Soon after, he raised the shiny championship trophy with his teammates, disregarding the fact that they held it upside down.
National coach Alfred Gislason chimed in, "What an outstanding team performance with a fantastic Gidsel! Massive congrats also go to coach Jaron Siewert." Mentor Hanning watched the culmination of his life's work from the sidelines, feeling empty but elated. "It was like 60 minutes in the dentist's chair with a full operation without anesthesia," he compared the game to.
Champions League Title Chances Ahead
Thanks to a strong second half, Füchse Berlin secured the final match against Rhein-Neckar Lions 38:33 (17:20), leaving their main rival SC Magdeburg one point behind. The defending champions' 35:25 victory against SG BBM Bietigheim in the same day didn't change the outcome.
Next weekend, Füchse Berlin and SC Magdeburg will face off in the Champions League final four. Berlin will face Nantes in the semifinals, while Magdeburg will take on record champions, FC Barcelona.
Humble Beginnings and Steep Climb
Füchse Berlin's journey to the top began in Mannheim, where they got off to the worst possible start, trailing 0:3 after just 90 seconds. Mistakes in both attack and defense plagued the team, and even a timeout by coach Jaron Siewert failed to bring about an immediate comeback. The team went into halftime trailing by three goals.
Gidsel later revealed the content of the half-time talk: "We said, 'Guys, we're the best team in the world. Now we have to play like the best team in the world.'" And they did. After the break, Gidsel and his teammates stepped up their game significantly. Gidsel was unstoppable in the Lions' defense and was the top scorer with ten goals, while left winger Tim Freihofer shone with eleven goals, and goalkeeper Dejan Milosavljev noticeably improved, even giving way to Lasse Ludwig at times.
Eighteen minutes before the end, the guests took the lead for the first time at 27:26, and the game finally went the way the Berliners had hoped. The many Foxes fans in the SAP Arena and the 1,500 supporters watching the public viewing at the Badeschiff on the Spree in Berlin were ecstatic.
Twenty years of hard work, from Morning 7:00 AM to Sunday night 11:00 PM, has paid off for Füchse boss Hanning, who transformed the team from a second-tier side to the current world champions[3]. However, he knows that hard work alone doesn't win titles. "We have a superstar like Gidsel," explains Hanning, "but we need more than that. We'll continue to strengthen the team in the coming years."
Füchse Berlin's star ensemble, consisting of the world's best player and homegrown talents like national player Nils Lichtlein and Tim Freihofer, now operating at top level, make every teammate better, according to sports director Stefan Kretzschmar[3]. From their humble beginnings as part of Berliner Turn-Verein 1891, Füchse Berlin have finally reached their Bundesliga dreams. As they prepare for the Champions League final four, the team is ready to continue making history. [1][2][3]
Füchse Berlin's upcoming Champions League final four match against Nantes signifies their chances of claiming another title, having demonstrated an impressive performance in securing the Bundesliga title.
Despite their humble beginnings as a second-tier side, Füchse Berlin's star ensemble, including Mathias Gidsel, Nils Lichtlein, and Tim Freihofer, have transformed the team into a formidable force in the world of sports, now operating at the top level and ready to continue making history.
