Handball European Championships
DHB team is “not afraid” of France’s Karabatic
The German national handball team is confident before the game against France. photo
© Andreas Gora/dpa
Handball legend Nikola Karabatic has won everything there is to win. But the DHB players “don’t pay that much attention” to the big name.
Germany’s handball players don’t want to let go of superstardom in the last European Championship preliminary round game against France Intimidate Nikola Karabatic. “We’re not afraid of it. We have our own qualities that we can bring in and contrast with that,” said backcourt player Sebastian Heymann before the duel with the Olympic champion this Tuesday (8.30 p.m./ARD and Dyn).
For Karabatic, who made his debut for the French national team in 2002, it is the last European Championship in his successful career. In addition to three gold medals at the Olympic Games, the 39-year-old won the world championship title four times and the European Championship title three times. “These are players that you look up to and try to learn things from. Not necessarily just in terms of handball, but also how such players deal with setbacks,” said Heymann.
U21 world champion Justus Fischer also feels respect for the test of strength with the three-time world handball player. “Since I’ll be playing against a lot of French people for the first time, it will be a pretty new experience for me. But I’m a player who can actually ignore it relatively well. People don’t pay much attention to the name,” he reported Circulator.
Karabatic had announced that he would end his career after the Olympic Games in France. Before that, he wants to celebrate success with the Équipe Tricolore. “The French will go into the game with a bit of frustration in their stomachs,” predicted Heymann, referring to the Olympic champions’ draw against Switzerland on Sunday.