In the European Handball Championship, the DHB selection will play in its last preliminary round game against France this Tuesday evening. Coach Alfred Gislason’s team also doesn’t want to be intimidated by France’s superstar Nikola Karabatic, as they emphasized before kick-off. “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 when asked by the German Press Agency (dpa). The game kicks off at 8:30 p.m. and will be broadcast on free TV by ARD (here you can read when the other games will take place and where you can watch them live.)
A total of 24 teams will play for the title of European champions until January 28th. The tournament will be held in six cities in Germany – in addition to Düsseldorf, where the tournament began, also in Berlin, Hamburg, Cologne, Mannheim and Munich. The final round will take place in Cologne.
The fact that the sport is becoming increasingly popular in Germany is shown by a series of portraits on ARD, which introduce the coach Alfred Gislason and two of the most famous German handball players, goalkeeper Wolff and backcourt player Knorr, and which has been available in the station’s media library for some time. The popularity of the actors is reflected in detailed background pieces on public television.
A few days before the start of the tournament, former handball world champion Dominik Klein was asked by the DPA about his opinion about the local squad. Klein won the World Cup with his team in 2007. He likes the mix of young guns and seasoned veterans, said Klein. The national team confirmed this assessment with two wins in the preliminary round against Switzerland and North Macedonia. Maybe a winter fairy tale is even possible, many fans hope, in which the DHB selection gets as far as possible.
DHB selection for the European Handball Championship: promising mix
“The distribution of roles is clear. On the one hand, the core of experienced players who have to radiate the necessary calm and confidence. On the other hand, the national coach has euphoric, carefree U21 world champions in his back pocket,” analyzed Klein, who is now a TV expert is in use.
Meanwhile, national coach Gislason was preparing for the European Championships with an initial 18 players; the second course began on New Year’s Day. However, Patrick Groetzki had to withdraw due to injury a few days before the start of the European Handball Championship; the 34-year-old veteran from the Rhein-Neckar-Löwen injured his foot in the friendly win against Portugal. Gislason did not nominate any players.
In the photo series we introduce coach Gislason and some of the players.
Sources: THW Kiel, DHB.de“Kicker.de“, “HNA.de“, “Rhein Necker newspaper“, ARD media library“Southgerman newspaper” / with material from dpa
Read at stern+: German handball has been a bit lackluster recently – the last title was eight years ago. After the clear win against Portugal, that should now change at the home European Championship. Important source of hope: Juri Knorr, 23 years old, playmaker with a penchant for quarreling.