European Handball Championship
Experienced and rookie: goalkeeper duo as support at the European Championships
Germany’s Andreas Wolff (l) and David Späth (r) thank the fans after a game. photo
© Tom Weller/dpa
At the home European Championships, the German handball players are relying on a mix of experience and youthful enthusiasm in goal. It’s not just the national coach who is convinced of his team.
A veteran and a rookie are supposed to nail up the goal of the German handball players at the home European Championships. National coach Alfred Gislason has high hopes for former European champion Andreas Wolff and U21 world champion David Späth, who will give the DHB team the necessary support in the medal mission. “The duo works very well. David complements Andi really well,” said Gislason about his goalkeeper team for the finals from January 10th to 28th.
Wolff returns after a long injury
The duo can give a first taste of their skills in the endurance test against Portugal this Thursday (4 p.m./ARD) in Flensburg. There should be plenty of opportunities to do so in the duel with the strong southern Europeans. It will be an important assessment, especially for Wolff, after his long injury break in the autumn.
The 2016 European champion no longer feels any after-effects of the slipped disc he suffered in August. “I’m doing well. I’m fit,” said Wolff shortly before New Year’s Eve at the end of the German Press Agency’s first European Championship preparation course. The 32-year-old made a brief comeback against Egypt at the beginning of November, but now he wants to get started again.
“It’s very pleasing that things are looking good for him again. I’m extremely happy and relieved about that,” said Gislason in a dpa interview. “Andi was one of our most important men at the World Cup and we can hardly replace him. He is a very experienced goalkeeper who, despite his temperament, exudes a lot of calm.”
His partner can also benefit from this – after all, Späth is experiencing his first European Championship. This is a dream come true for the 21-year-old. “Representing your country at a big tournament is the greatest thing you can experience as an athlete,” said the keeper from cup winners Rhein-Neckar Löwen.
Coach Gislason: “Späth is a great keeper”
Gislason thinks highly of the whiz kid, who will only play his third international match against Portugal. “He took part in a course three times before his debut and always cut an outstanding figure. The boy is a huge talent and someone who can create a good atmosphere,” said the 64-year-old Icelander about Späth.
He impresses not only with his good reflexes, but also with his carefree attitude and his emotions, which he always gives free rein to on the floor. “He has an enormous presence, strong physicality and the necessary instinct. He is a great keeper with his heart in the right place and will go his own way,” said club colleague Juri Knorr about Späth.
His star could really rise at the European Championships – as was the case with Wolff eight years ago. The bearded giant traveled to the European Championships in Poland as number two behind Carsten Lichtlein and returned as a celebrated hero after the gold triumph. “All the things that you dreamed of as a child and that you set as goals suddenly became reality there,” Wolff said recently.
Since 2016 there has been a proper rotation between the German posts. Wolff remained a constant. “Andi Wolff has been proving his quality for years. He is the undisputed number one,” said former world champion Henning Fritz and at the same time praised his colleagues: “David Späth is young, but has already shown several times what he is capable of. Something like that I’ve rarely seen such a young man.” The European Championship team with the veteran and the rookie is therefore ideal: “Germany is very well positioned there. It’s the perfect constellation.”