Returning players Nikola Portner and Manuel Zehnder impress in the Swiss handball team's 38:27 win over Ukraine at the start of the Yellow Cup in Winterthur. What do they say?
08.01.2026, 22:22
08.01.2026, 22:28
SDA
Zehnder performed as if he had never been away a year after suffering a cruciate ligament rupture at the same venue. With eight goals, he was the best scorer of the game together with Luka Maros. "That was my goal. I said: 'When I play again, I want to play fully'. I think I managed that quite well," said the 26-year-old director in an interview with the Keystone-SDA news agency and continued: "At the start, I almost overpaced myself a bit and took too many shots. But I felt good right from the start."
Was he able to completely ignore the knee? "I didn't think about it during the game." Zehnder, who plays for Magdeburg, commented on the clear victory: "It was a classic first game after a break. We had a few teething problems (the score was 11:11 after 21 minutes), but then we got into it very well and outplayed them with good defense and pace."
Portner played his first serious match since the triumph with Magdeburg in the Champions League in mid-June. After that, he was not eligible to play again until December 10 due to a retroactive 21-month doping ban for traces of methamphetamines, but has not been used by the East Germans since then. Portner also impressed against Ukraine with 13 saves.
"I'm over the moon with how it went," said the relieved Swiss captain. However, he was not completely satisfied with his performance: "I feel very good in training and physically, so I can't complain at all. But you can't simulate a game in training, I'm still lacking a bit of rhythm. However, the team played very well, we did our thing and simply carried on after mistakes. Plus eleven is a top result."
Portner is now looking forward to the game against Bahrain on Friday: "This is an opponent we don't know at all." The game kicks off at 8.15 pm.
