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UEFA Champions League: Thun ready for voyage into unknown [Fri Aug 26th, 2005]
Monaco (Reuters) - Arsenal vice-chairman David Dein had seen it all before, but the media scrum that followed UEFA Champions League draw was such a daunting experience for Thun president Kurt Weder he decided to slip away quietly.
As well-known football personalities queued up to be interviewed by the television cameras around him, he packed his bags to leave early from the Grimaldi Forum in Monte Carlo.
That was until a UEFA official realised what had happened and went off to persuade him to return and talk about his little Swiss club's fairytale success in qualifying for Europe's elite club competition the first time.
"This is all so thrilling, so fantastic for us that it is almost unbelievable," said Weder, the man at the head of a club from a town of only 42,000 inhabitants who face experienced European campaigners Arsenal, Ajax and Sparta Prague in Group B.
Thun begin with a trip to Highbury to play Arsenal on September 14.
"I am sure some of our players have never played in England before, maybe never been to London," said Weder. "But they are experienced men. They have travelled around the world. They will not be frightened and will do their best."
He said the team, a collection of journeymen players from all over the world, was well-organised and coached. They include four Brazilians, one of whom had played in Japan, a Cameroon international and an Australian.
STUNNING VICTORY
Thun stunned many observers when they eliminated Swedish former European Cup finalists Malmo 4-0 on aggregate to claim their place in the Champions League proper.
The triumph was a great boost for the town, Switzerland's 11th-biggest, near Bern, as it fought against the floods that hit central and Eastern Europe.
Thun's normal stadium was left a metre under water by the storms, but this is unlikely to upset their plans for hosting Arsenal, Ajax and Sparta Prague since they will play them at the capital's new 32,000-capacity Wankdorf, refurbished to be the new Swiss national stadium.
Weder said: "It is unbelievable for us. It is all so new, a new dimension. It is a challenge for us -- and a big thrill to go to London.
"Arsenal is a great name in Europe and we are looking forward to that. We will do our best. We have worked hard to get here."
He said Thun was unlike most other clubs in the Champions League in that they did not have rich owners or any major sponsors.
"We have a club that is owned by the population, by the people, you could say, so we don't have any big investors and nobody is in the club with more than five percent of the annual budget," he said.
He laughed at the idea that the stadium in Bern could accommodate nearly the entire population of Thun but warned that around 250,000 Swiss fans may be interested in buying tickets.
"We are the darlings of Switzerland now, you know," he said.
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