Handball squad for European Handball Championship
German national coach foregoes prominent names at the Olympics
Status: 2:34 p.m. | Reading time: 2 minutes
Patrick Groetzki of the Rhein-Neckar Löwen should not play at the Olympics
Source: dpa/Noah Wedel
Here you can listen to our WELT podcasts
In order to display embedded content, your revocable consent to the transmission and processing of personal data is necessary, since the providers of the embedded content as third-party providers require this consent [In diesem Zusammenhang können auch Nutzungsprofile (u.a. auf Basis von Cookie-IDs) gebildet und angereichert werden, auch außerhalb des EWR]. By setting the switch to “on”, you agree to this (revocable at any time). This also includes your consent to the transfer of certain personal data to third countries, including the USA, in accordance with Art. 49 (1) (a) GDPR. You can find more information about this at . You can revoke your consent at any time using the switch and via privacy at the bottom of the page.
Alfred Gislason has nominated his provisional squad for the Olympic Games. In contrast to the European Championships in January, the national handball coach is making a few changes. For example, he is leaving out four experienced players.
German handball coach Alfred Gislason has set the personnel course for the Olympic Games in Paris and is preparing with a 17-man squad. The squad nominated on Monday only includes eleven players who also took part in the home European Championships in January. Gislason has until July 8 to decide which 14 players he will take to the tournament and who will take the three reserve places.
“There were difficult decisions to make, but that ultimately speaks for the quality and the resulting competition. The players who have now been invited are certainly in pole position to be in Paris,” said DHB sports director Axel Kromer about the composition of the squad.
also read
Experienced players such as backcourt players Kai Häfner and Philipp Weber or the two right wingers Patrick Groetzki and Timo Kastening are no longer part of the provisional squad. U21 world champion Nils Lichtlein from runner-up Füchse Berlin will also not be there when the DHB selection begins the hot phase of its Olympic preparations with a training course in Hennef on June 30th.
Three more test matches before the Olympics
On the other hand, Marko Grgic from ThSV Eisenach, the youngest player in the squad at 20, can also hope for an Olympic ticket after his international debut in May. The most experienced in the team is goalkeeper Andreas Wolff, who won Olympic bronze with the German team in Rio in 2016 and has played 158 international matches so far. The oldest player is right winger Christoph Steinert (34).
also read
“The invited players now know what their summer will look like,” said Gislason. “We have a strong group together and we are looking forward to this team and the journey.” Before heading to Paris, the DHB team will play three test international matches against European champions France (July 13), Hungary (July 19) and Japan (July 21). In the preliminary round of the Olympic tournament, the opponents are Sweden, Japan, Croatia, Spain and Slovenia.
