The German handball champion Rhein-Neckar Löwen has reactivated Kim Ekdahl du Rietz for the season-end sprint. The Swedish backroom player was officially introduced on Friday and will be back in action for the Baden team.
“I’m very happy. It’s like a dream for me, totally surreal,”said Ekdahl du Rietz at a press conference in Mannheim on Friday. He called his return almost nine months after his supposed career end a “beautiful adventure. The 28-year-old, whose contract runs until the end of the season, announced he would donate his salary.
Ekdahl du Rietz, who only finished his career last summer at the age of only 27 and traveled around the world, will make his debut in the Cup quarter-finals next Tuesday against SC DHfK Leipzig. He is eligible to play in the Champions League from the knockout stage onwards.
“We are very pleased to have him back here in Mannheim. The whole team is fully behind it and has wished he would come back,”said Löwen Managing Director Jennifer Kettemann. Last week, Gedeon Guardiola, head of Lion Defense Gedeon Guardiola, was severely injured last week (chord tearing in the large pectoral muscle), and the club was looking for short-term reinforcement.
“I love this team and all that stuff, the arena, the fans. It was natural for me to help,”said Ekdahl du Rietz. He was “very excited”. The Swede had stopped playing handball in June last year because he had no desire for professional sports.