“Maybe it’s not so bad if I can’t hear our coach”
Kiel’s goalkeeper Niklas Landin is about to say goodbye to THW and the Handball Bundesliga
Source: pa/Eibner press photo/Marcel von Fehrn
Easter Sunday is the next highlight in a crazy title race in the Handball Bundesliga. THW Kiel meets defending champion SC Magdeburg. In focus: Kiel’s goalkeeper Niklas Landin.
DSecond in the table Kiel plays against third in the league Magdeburg (2 p.m., Sky). Niklas Landin (34), the best goalkeeper in the world, is standing in the THW goal. What many do not know: the Dane is deaf in one ear after meningitis when he was a baby.
Ask: Mr. Landin, doesn’t that bother you at all?
Niklas Landin: No. I don’t know any different. And the more my other senses are developed. I used to be the best at memory because I was good at storing images in my head. And besides: Maybe it’s not so bad if I can’t hear our coach Filip Jicha for a half – the better I can concentrate on myself (laughs).
Ask: Master Magdeburg comes to Kiel on Easter Sunday. Is it tingling already?
Countryside: And how! It’s an all-or-nothing game and can be decisive in the title fight. Magdeburg has a very strong team and is on an equal footing with us. They are one of our biggest rivals in recent years. The game on Sunday is all the more important.
Ask: Do you prepare particularly?
Countryside: As always, I will shower before the game. Then I feel fresher
Full focus: Kiel’s goalkeeper Niklas Landin (M.) expects a shot on goal
Source: dpa/Frank Molter
Ask: You decided the top game against Füchse Berlin (36:29) with a personal record of 23 saves. Can you top that?
Countryside: I didn’t even know it was a record. But such statistics are just a bonus. The most important thing for me is that we win, get the title and I have a nice farewell from Kiel.
Ask: Balls fly at up to 130 km/h around your ears. Have you never had a desire to play in the field?
Countryside: I got into goal because there was no goalkeeper in my youth team. So I just went in. Later, when I was ten or twelve, I occasionally had the thought: Why didn’t I actually become a field player? Scoring goals is nice too. My father used to be a circle runner. But in the end I always felt most comfortable in goal. I’m a goalkeeper with body and soul. In my position I can decide games. And when I see what a circle runner has to put up with, I don’t want to swap. In addition, as a goalkeeper, I have the great advantage: I can play much longer.
Ask: After eight years, you will leave Kiel in the summer and move to Aalborg in Denmark. Why?
Countryside: Because of my family. It was always clear that one day I would like to return to my homeland. All my relatives live there, my wife Liv also wants to go back. Our children Pelle (8) and Silje (5) don’t really know Denmark yet. We want to change that.
Ask: What will you miss most in Kiel?
Countryside: The sold-out hall with over 10,000 fans. The hall in Aalborg is only half the size. The handball euphoria in Kiel is incomparable. In general: Nowhere are the fans as good as in Germany.
The interview was managed for the sports competence center (WELT, SPORT BILD, BILD) and first published in BILD.
