AIn the morning, Alfred Gislason briefly looked back on his two years as national handball coach, which turned into years marked by the pandemic: “I haven’t had any normal preparation or a normal tournament. Now this Covid story is exploding here. This is frustrating. I very much hope that this will come to an end.”
At some point maybe, also for him and his handball pros – but not in the days of Bratislava: On Wednesday afternoon it was rumored that the German Handball Federation (DHB) had three other players with positive corona tests: Christoph Steinert, Sebastian Heymann and Djibril M ‘Bengue. The DHB announced in the early evening that a member of the functional team was also affected. These are cases ten to twelve in the German camp at the European Championships in Hungary and Slovakia. The afternoon training in the Ondrej Nepela Arena was then voluntary. With regard to further nominations, the association is in exchange with the Bundesliga and the European association EHF.
As of Wednesday evening, Gislason suddenly only had 13 players in the squad: six from his original squad, Rune Dahmke, Johannes Bitter, Paul Drux, Sebastian Firnhaber and Fabian Wiede, who were nominated on Tuesday, as well as Patrick Zieker and goalkeeper Daniel Rebmann – they reached the Slovakian capital on Wednesday. Julius Kühn could also come back from his quarantine for the first main round game this Thursday (6 p.m. in the FAZ live ticker for the European Handball Championship, on ARD and on sportdeutschland.tv) against Spain, assuming two negative PCR tests and a thorough health check.
It is a next blow for the Germans, one that finally calls into question the usefulness of this mission. Despite all caution, despite all isolation: the virus, how and by whomever brought it in, is a constant companion of this team. “In my opinion, we’ve been careful all year,” said Gislason, “it’s a mystery to me how the virus got in here.”
The day had started with self-initiated PCR tests. The anxious look at the results has been a constant companion of the players for a long time. Before the training, they also completed a rapid test. “It is not yet clear whether we will risk training,” Gislason said in the morning. In the evening there was another PCR test, which the EHF introduced at this tournament in order to have certainty on the morning of the game days.
The mere fact that a national coach is concerned about whether he can risk training in a tournament underlines the absurd situation in which the German elite handball players find themselves. And looking at the whole tournament, you have to ask yourself how the Poles feel, who met the three Germans who had now tested positive on the field on Tuesday evening. The DHB with its ongoing corona outbreak as a threat to the “euro”?
And what if it continues? Strangely enough, the Slovakian isolation had not so far resulted in the German handball team falling into its individual parts – the 30:23 on Tuesday evening against Poland was proof of growing cohesion, it went much better in terms of unity than in the opening victories against Belarus and Austria . “They’re super excited to be together during the game. It’s almost their only chance,” said Gislason.
So far, the national coach had put together what actually didn’t belong together. Twelve failures, seven nominees, but the Germans didn’t let themselves be crushed. But slowly the curtain should fall in Gislason’s improvisational theatre. Without the tournament discovery Christoph Steinert, he would be missing a central figure – a pity for the eloquent and self-confident late starter, who is already 32 years old.
On the other hand, Gislason could hope for Julian Köster. The national coach had been raving about him for a long time. Against Poland, the 21-year-old backcourt player showed why. Six throws, six goals, fine allusions, clever in defense. “I watched him for a year and a half to see his strengths and weaknesses,” Gislason said. Köster played in Dormagen and now at VfL Gummersbach, second division – probably not for much longer.
In Bratislava, he has always been seen with a big grin on his face: everything is new, exciting, attractive. A story as painted to show the fresh German team. He comes from the same village and the same school as the young Leverkusen soccer star Florian Wirtz, said Köster on Wednesday morning, “his mother was my first handball coach.” Now the question is whether he will play a central role in the backcourt. Or whether the tournament for the Germans ends very quickly.
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