Zeitz, the "Hammer"

Goalkeepers better be watching because German Cristian Zeitz attacks with 111 km/h shots. Due to his technique, he got the nickname “Hammer” some years ago. The 34-year old right back is in a special situation since in the semi-final of Champions League he has to play against his former team, THW Kiel. He is celebrating his first Hungarian victory against Szeged.

 

 

Professional sport

 

“This is an extraordinary but not an unfamiliar situation for me. Last May I played in my former team’s jersey against my current team and in two weeks I’ll be playing with Veszprém in Cologne. This is what professional sport is about. For me it’s undoubtedly special in this situation that I’ve only been in German clubs before having moved to Hungary. I was Kiel’s player for 11 years; I spent nearly one third of my life there.” – Christian Zeitz said to our reporter of Telekom Sports News Service.

 

As a player of Kronau-Östringen, he got into Bundeliga which is considered to be the most outstanding championship of Europe. In THW Kiel jersey he has been CL champion for 3 times: 2007, 2010, 2012. In fact, he says that he played in all sports hall in Germany..

 

He chose a new “winner” team

 

“I have a lot of great memories with my former team, but I wanted new challenges and a new team. I heard only good things about the team of Veszprém: reliability, goals, professional work, and the mentality of the whole team. There is no doubt that I made the right decision to choose Veszprém. I think that Momir Ilic, who came to Veszprém before me and became the the top scorer of last year’s CL, has also the same opinion as well as Icelander Aron Palmarsson who is moving to Veszprém after his final game in Cologne as a playmaker of our opponent team.”

 

 

According to Cristian Zeitz, THW Kiel might be the probable winner in the CL qualifying game in May 30.

 

“On the one hand, as the only German team in Final Four, most fans will cheer for them in the huge Lanxess Arena, on the other hand, they have outstanding players in each position. We have to be as prepared as possible so that we can fight against them with stable and aggressive defence. I hope that they will not use the “tactics of the year” against us. The Final Four has been the tournaments of surprises lately. Two years ago Hamburg and last year Flensburg-Handewitt proved that an underdog can turn into a winner. This year Kiel wishes to continue the series of German winning.”

 

Handball or fitness

 

This season is about to end but his contract is valid for two more years with his Hungarian team, with which he won in SEHA League and Hungarian Cup.

“I’d like to become a Hungarian champion and play for as long as possible. Then, I would look for another profession which is connected to handball. If it won’t work out, I am also interested in fitness business but it’s early to talk about it. Now it’s important that I – and the team – perform the best in Cologne. This team is able to do great things.” – three-time winner, World Championship winner and Olympic silver medalist Zeitz added.

 

Telekom Sports News Service – Péter Szalay