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Kolding defeated Skjern with half of squad missing

The Frenchmen practically have no chance for recovery. If they loose this one they can say goodbye to the 1/8 final of Champions League

The French runners-up of the championship haven't started their debut campaign in the Champions League in good form. Two defeats at the start from Kielce and Wisla put a tremendous amount of pressure on Patrick Cazal's team ahead of today's match. They are also aware that a new loss of points would certainly get them out of the race for first four positions and a place in the 1/8 final. Especially since after the away match at Porto the following weekend they have two clashes against Kiel and a home match against Kielce.

- After a difficult week and a half the team managed to respond to a demanding task. The Champions League is exhausting emotionally as you need to fully get into every match. What we saw in Nantes gives us hope that we are not at the end and that we are still capable of big things - coach Cazal stated ahead of the home match against last season's runners-up in the Danish championship and current leader of the same competition.

After losing to Wisla, Dunkerque also lost against St. Raphaël at home and coach Cazal and president Jean-Pierre Vandaele harshly criticized their players. Their response came on Wednesday in Nantes where they won the league derby by 22-19 and left the strong Nantes on poor 19 goals. One could think that with such a low score that it was a goalkeepers' derby, but Dunkerque duo Gerard and Annotel combined 7 saves and Nantes duo Skof and Maggaiez managed 13 saves. It shows best just how tough the defensive play was on both sides, without leaving any room and fighting for every ball and every inch of the court.

- This is only the third match in the Champions League but it is very important to get out of our current position and see what are we capable of - middle back Bastien Lamon stated.

Ahead of the match against Nantes the pivot Benjamin Afgour got some extra incentive. Claude Onesta put him on the list of national team players and the lad could not believe it. They played a perfect game in defense while they had a lot of problems in the offensive play. Something similar can be expected tonight because the Danes have one of the best defensive line-ups in the Champions League, with Hvidt on goal and Jørgensen, Laen and Boldsen in front of him.

Just how powerful is Kolding was evident on Wednesday when they defeated Skjern by 29-27. It's not because of the win, it was the way they won. They were missing Kim Andersson, Kasper Irming, two wingers Schnuchel and Jensen, and also their starting center back Karlsson who got injured last weekend against GOG. Lasse Boesen also got injured and Kronborg left him out of the rotation. They had no left-handed players on right back. Boldsen appeared in the starting line-up together with Spellerberg and the young Lasse Andersson had a fair share of time on court. With such a weakened squad they won against a team with Møllgaard and Søndergaard.

Kronborg lead a training session on Friday and the list of absentees is very long with Boldsen, Boesen, Karlsson, Kim Andersson and second goalkeeper Westphal together with the trio who are absent for a longer period, Jensen, Irming and Schnuchel. Kim Andersson has problems with his shoulder again and went to Barcelona to see a specialist and he is not in France at all, as well as middle back Karlsson.

However the list of players who went to Northern France does include Boesen, Boldsen and Westphal. We can easily expect that the Danes will play their maximum defensive play again as their defensive line-up is complete with Hvidt, Jørgensen, Laen, Boldsen and Viudes. They will try to convert their tough defense to as many easy goals through wings Rocas and Hundstrup in order to avoid playing against a set zone defense. However, their offensive play will need a lot of improvisation and one can expect that they will mostly play with the trio of Boesen on the right, Lasse Andersson in the middle and Bo Spellerberg on the left. The French often position their defense on 8-9 meters so there will be some room for pivots, whether Laen or Viudes.

Anyway we are in for a defensive war. Considering the Danes only play 6-0 defense, the effectiveness of French backcourt shooters Soudry (3/8 against Nantes and 4/13 against St. Raphaël) and Rambo on the right as well as Hansen on the left might be the decisive segments.

This Kolding team should never be underestimated, even if they are weakened. And today they are. And they are very much underestimated. The defense they are about to set, which comprises Jorgensen, Laen, Viudes and probably Boldsen who is a minor doubt for the match, will prove to be an insurmountable obstacle for Dunkerque. This will enable them to score goals and display a good offensive performance on the wings of Spellerberg, who has been playing in top form and who has been called up once again by Wilbek to play for the national team. Hvidt is another player in excellent form and beating him is always a difficult task. Today that mission has been given to Dunkerque back-court players. The French have been far from impressive as far as their shooting form is concerned, and this refers particularly to left-handed players Soudry and Rambo, but also to Hansen. Under seems to be a viable option and over odds which suggest that Kolding will not lose are untenable and that opportunity has to be seized. My opinion is that the Danes are the favorites and the odds should be more even...