Handball EM: German team continues to play despite Corona

Handball-EM
“Can be responsible for staying in the tournament”: German handball players continue to play – but the uncertainty remains

At the end of another turbulent day, CEO Mark Schober announced the most important news: Despite further corona cases, the German handball players will not withdraw from the European Championship. “We discussed intensively and came to the conclusion that we can take responsibility for staying in the tournament,” said Schober late Wednesday evening.

A few hours earlier, national coach Alfred Gislason had received the next shocking news at the finals in Hungary and Slovakia. Before the classic against Spain at the start of the main round of the European Championship, there were four other corona cases in the DHB team. The backcourt players Sebastian Heymann, Djibril M’Bengue and Christoph Steinert as well as a member of the functional team were affected.

After that, the wires glowed. The association discussed the steadily deteriorating situation with the umbrella organization EHF and the Handball Bundesliga. In the end, according to Schober, the DHB decided against a possible withdrawal from the final round “according to medical, sporting, legal and economic aspects”.

“The explosion of corona cases is frustrating”

After all, a possible transfer of the duel with the defending champion was discussed this Thursday (6 p.m. / ARD) in Bratislava – initially without a decision. For the game, Gislason filled the decimated squad with the three substitutes Lukas Stutzke, David Schmidt and Tobias Reichmann late on Wednesday evening.

But how long will that be good? The number of DHB players who tested positive at the finals has now increased to twelve. Eleven players were nominated. This has also put the Bundesliga in an alarm mood. “That’s what we feared the most – but also what you had to reckon with,” said league boss Uwe Schwenker of the German Press Agency. “Of course it doesn’t make sense to nominate three to five players from the Bundesliga every day when new cases arise.”

On site, the association is trying to master the insane situation as best as possible. Gislason followed the loose exercises of his decimated protégés on Wednesday with stoic composure. One could only guess what the 62-year-old Icelander really looks like. “Of course, the explosion in the number of corona cases is frustrating for all of us, not just for me,” said the national coach on Wednesday morning. The most recent cases were not yet known.

Handball player in “solitary confinement”

The final training session in the afternoon was supposed to be a welcome change from the bleak everyday routine at the European Championships. Finally out of the hotel rooms where the Gislason protégés have to spend most of the day waiting for the latest corona test results. “We hang around in isolation in our rooms all day. It’s a very absurd situation,” Gislason described the extraordinary and sometimes extreme circumstances.

Backcourt ace Steinert put it even more drastically: “It’s like solitary confinement.” For the time being, there is no escape for the 32-year-old. Steinert, who had been the best DHB thrower with nine goals in the 30:23 win against Poland in the preliminary round final, had already guessed the disaster. “We are so stringent in what we do that it’s hard for me to imagine that something else will happen. But we’re not all sure. I think it’s a gamble,” said the professional from HC Erlangen explained the Poland game. A few hours later, his personal EM dream was brutally shattered.

The sporting aspect of the game against Spain suddenly faded into the background. Whether the team can continue to defy the ever new low blows is extremely questionable. Even though Gislason said after the win against Poland: “I do think that such an extreme situation really bonds the team.”

In the duel with the Spaniards, his protégés face an almost impossible task due to the acute weakening of the team. “They’re one of the most ripped-off teams there is. They have a very strong defense with great goalkeepers and hardly ever make technical mistakes. We’re blatant outsiders,” said Gislason.

No normal preparation for handball EM possible

Only Philipp Weber, Patrick Wiencek, Julian Köster, Lukas Zerbe, Simon Ernst and captain Johannes Golla remain from the original EM squad. After all, the replacements Daniel Rebmann and Patrick Zieker arrived at the EM venue on Wednesday. In addition to the Corona trio, left winger Rune Dahmke was not part of the training. Julius Kühn, whose PCR test on Wednesday was not negative as hoped, is not an option.

A normal preparation of the completely newly thrown together DHB troop is out of the question. And the uncertainty remains in the back of players’ minds. Anyone who has just made big EM plans can be in quarantine the next moment. An almost insane situation that pushes the Gislason protégés to their limits, especially mentally.

On their mobile phones, laptops or televisions, they try to distract themselves from the Corona crisis as best they can. The wish that playmaker Weber expressed on Tuesday evening will no longer be fulfilled: “We hope that we will all get through the tournament healthy and have a nice main round.” There are almost only top-class players waiting for the DHB selection. A good 24 hours after the Spain game, the action against Norway, third in the European Championship, continues on Friday. Duels with World Cup runners-up Sweden and Russia follow. But that’s only a side issue for a long time now.

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DPA