Viran Morros: A cheese-loving defence ace in Switzerland

And there is one world champion, double EHF EURO champion and treble EHF Champions League winner, who went to Switzerland in 2022: Viran Morros, Spanish defence ace, joined Pfadi Winterthur after a one-year stint at Füchse Berlin Germany. Previously, Morros played for top sides such as Ciudad Real, FC Barcelona or Paris Saint-Germain for almost two decades.

“With Füchse, we played an EHF European League match in Schaffhausen, and I was asked to have a coffee with Pfadi coach Goran Cvetkovic together with my Berlin teammate Mijajlo Marsenic. We started talking, Cvetkovic said ‘I want you here’, and finally I signed for Pfadi”, said Morros. After one year at Winterthur, the Spaniard knows: “It was the absolute right decision. The country and the life in Switzerland are great, the city is great, the club is great and I play for a great team. Not a single thing to regret.”

Winterthur is 40 minutes away from the German border, it takes an hour to be in the mountains. “I really like to be in the Alps, I love skiing, but of course, I will go skiing only when my career is finished,” said Morros. He also fell in love with the Swiss way of dining: “At home in Spain, I already liked to eat different sorts of cheese, but the variety here is enormous. And, of course, I love traditional fondue and raclette.”

Many had asked what was the reason for a three times EHF Champions League winner (2008 and 2009 with Ciudad Real, 2015 with Barcelona) to go to Switzerland.

In the end, it is a similar job to the one his good friend Joan Cañellas has in Schaffhausen: “Joan and I played in the national team for 14 years and two seasons at Ciudad Real, unfortunately we do not see that often, only when our clubs face each other. ‘Kanne’ and I are perfect examples of the improvement in Swiss handball. The league gets better year by year, and therefore the clubs attract more and more players from abroad, who then strengthen the teams again.”

Morros, Cañellas and Musa with Kriens are all part of the group phase in the EHF European League. “It is a great success for Switzerland to be represented by three clubs in this top competition. And mainly this season, the EHF European League is a little bit like the EHF Champions League. At least five, six clubs such as Flensburg, Berlin, Nantes, Elverum or Bucharest would also be top in the EHF Champions League. Therefore, the EHF European League is really exciting”, said Morros, who played with Füchse in the EHF European League 2021/22 season, but failed in the play-offs against Nantes.

In the 2023/24 season, Morros and Pfadi already have a thriller behind them. In the qualification round against Aguas Santas Milaneza from Portugal, the Swiss side seemed to be through after 41 minutes of the second leg, leading 22:14 following the 22:24 defeat in the first leg. But they finally had reason to shiver: “We did not score any goals for 19 minutes, but thanks to our defence and goalkeeping we managed to win exactly by the three goal-difference we needed and we clinched the berth for the group phase. We were lucky, but now we are really happy.”

And Winterthur are happy with the group matches draw too. “We play in quite a balanced group and avoid the big names,” Morros said. Pfadi will face Gorenje Velenje (Slovenia), IK Sävehof (Sweden) and the Spanish side Cuenca. “We are not the favourites, but we have a realistic chance to proceed to the main round. We have to focus on our home matches and maybe take one or other points away. It is challenging, interesting and pretty difficult, but we hope we will make it.”

Morros’ experience on and off the court shall be one key to reach this goal: “Maybe you can call me the ‘leader of the pack’ after all those years and trophies , but I am definitely the oldest player in the team, maybe the oldest in the whole competition. But besides me, we have experienced players such as Kevin Jud or Cedric Tynovski, who also steer our many young players.”

Photos: Martin Deuring / Deuring Photography, Porfirio Ferreira