Sports fans all over Europe are looking forward to the European Handball Championships in Germany. It starts this Wednesday evening: The DHB selection will take on Switzerland in the Düsseldorf football stadium in front of a record number of 53,000 spectators.
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, 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, among other things, by a series of portraits on ARD, which introduce the coach Alfred Gislason and two of the most famous German handball players, goalkeeper Andreas Wolff and backcourt player Juri Knorr, and which have been in the media library for some time station can be accessed. 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 German Press Agency (dpa) for 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.
Promising mix in the DHB selection for the European Handball Championship
“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,” said Klein, who is now a TV expert in the use is.
Heiner Brand, world champion coach in 2007, expressed some skepticism. From his point of view, the German team is not yet at a top level, as Gislason’s predecessor told Sky broadcaster before the tournament: “After the experiences of last year, after the games against Denmark or Sweden, you can’t say that we belong to the absolute top.”
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.
The start for the DHB team is the first day of the tournament: Kick-off against Switzerland is on January 10th at 8:45 p.m., ZDF will broadcast the game (here you can read when the other games will take place and where you can watch them live.)
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.