Now Christoph Steinert has gotten it after all. On Thursday, as is well known, he was sent through a strong emotional rollercoaster at the European Handball Championships in Hungary and Slovakia. First his PCR test was considered positive, an hour before the kick-off against Spain it said: false positive. So negative. Steinert hastily packed his things (and forgot half of them), sprinted to the hall on foot, missed the warm-up, but was able to intervene in the second half.
Then on Saturday the new twist: a positive test at Steinert, taken after the 11:28 p.m. on Friday against Norway. Sebastian Firnhaber was also hit, so there were two more corona cases. According to the German Handball Federation (DHB), the CT values indicate a low level of infectivity, but the tests are considered positive.
For two days, all tests among the German players were negative, which fueled the hope that the chain of infection might actually have been broken. But now Steinert and Firnhaber, cases number 12 and 13 in the German team at this European Championship. Both have to be in quarantine and will definitely be canceled for the remaining main round games on Sunday against Sweden (6 p.m. / ARD) and on Tuesday against Russia (6 p.m. / ZDF); presumably the European Championship went well for both of them.
The German team was able to keep up against Norway on certain points – then the opponent pulled away
In the German camp, they cannot explain the recent positive tests. The story seems “a bit crazy, but we can’t argue it away,” said sports director Axel Kromer to SID: “We have to take note of that and now have a team that is still powerful.” This time no players would be nominated.
The defeat against Norway showed that the German team is able to keep up with the best teams in the world (including the Norwegians) with their emergency team. After a successful start it was 5:3, goalkeeper Jogi Bitter made an excellent save and kept the team in the game when no German pitcher could put a ball in the Norwegian goal for nine minutes in the first half.
Best German handball player against Norway: goalkeeper Johannes Bitter.
(Photo: Marijan Murat/dpa)
The longer the game lasted, the more it became apparent that the Germans had to put up with more than ten corona failures – and the Norwegians not a single one. Played as they are, the Scandinavians pulled away, although top player Sander Sagosen had a very used day this time. In the end it became clear, a defeat with a difference of five goals. He knew that “everything has to work out against the Norwegians to have a chance,” said national coach Alfred Gislason. His conclusion: “Not everything worked out.”
It should now be really difficult to stay in the tournament beyond Tuesday. The first two teams in the group qualify for the semifinals, the Spaniards have collected 6:0 points, Norway and Sweden are at 4:2 points, the Germans at 2:4. “We won’t complain and we’ll keep working,” said goalkeeper Bitter, but now it’s imperative that two wins against Sweden and Russia are achieved – and then the competition must also play appropriately. That sounds more like early departure on Wednesday.