February 2007 went down as a golden month in German handball history: On February 4th, the national team wrote a black, red and gold success story. At the World Cup in her own country, she became world champion for the third time after a thrilling 29:24 victory in the final against Poland. It was the culmination of a tournament with a very special course.
Many German handball stars found themselves at the peak of their creativity at the time of the home World Cup. Top performers like Henning Fritz (then 32 years old at THW Kiel), Oliver Roggisch (28 years old, SC Magdeburg), Pascal Hens (26 years old, HSV Hamburg), Torsten Jansen (30 years old, HSV Hamburg) and Florian Kehrmann (29 years old, TBV Lemgo) shaped an entire generation of players under national coach Heiner Brand.
The Handball Bundesliga had already achieved status as the best league in the world in previous years. The German national team, on the other hand, has already shown its huge potential by reaching the World Cup final in 2003 and the European Championship title in 2004, and also secured the silver medal at the Olympic Games in Athens in the year they won the European Championship.
Germany suffered its first setback against Poland
At the World Cup tournament in their own country, the DHB selection managed to create a wave of enthusiasm in Germany right from the start. The first group games, which were played in Berlin and Halle/Westphalia, attracted an audience of millions to their TV screens.
After the first hurdles against the outsiders from Brazil (27:22) and Argentina (32:20) were mastered confidently, the first bitter setback came with the 25:27 defeat in the duel with Poland.
“Nothing is lost yet. But we will have to talk about the mistakes,” was the alarm bell ringing for national coach Brand after the first and only tournament defeat.
With a special mix of old and young, a variable offensive game, a tough 6-0 defensive line and the home advantage on their side, the DHB men played themselves into a real frenzy in the days that followed. All four games in the main round were won, including a celebrated 29:26 victory against tournament favorites France.
Cyclist Christian Schwarzer, among others, became one of the crowd’s favorites. The then 37-year-old veteran had actually long since ended his career in the Germany jersey and was still on the sidelines as a TV expert during the DHB team’s first World Cup appearances.
Due to ongoing injury concerns in the pivot position, “Blacky” Schwarzer was quickly called up to the German squad and from then on proved to be a great stabilizer in the defense center alongside Oliver Roggisch.
Once they reached the knockout phase, the DHB stars delivered three top-class handball parties in the Arena in Cologne in front of 19,000 spectators each. The celebrated 27:25 quarter-final win against Spain was followed two days later by the biggest thriller of the entire tournament.
In the second meeting with the reigning European champions France, Germany retained the upper hand 32:31 after a total of two overtime periods. A memorable handball drama in which, alongside goalkeeper Henning Fritz, the youngsters Michael Kraus and Lars Kaufmann became the surprising match winners.
Heiner Brand becomes an icon of German handball
Three days after the handball battle against the French, the German selection was ready for revenge against Poland. The world-class team at the time, led by Bundesliga stars Marcin Lijewski, Mariusz Jurasik and Karol Bielecki, was considered ready for the title due to its victory in the preliminary round against Germany.
In the final in Cologne, the German team quickly went on a gold rush. At 21:14 in the second half everything seemed to be clear before goalkeeper Henning Fritz injured his calf.
Poland used this for a final spark and actually came within 21:22. Fritz replacement Johannes Bitter with several saves and backcourt giant Pascal Hens with a double strike to make it 24:21 then eliminated the last doubts in the sold-out Cologne Arena.
Ultimately, Germany won 29:24 and won the World Cup crown for the third time after 1938 and 1978. “This is a dream, simply unbelievable. We have this thing,” cheered captain and leader Markus Baur.
National coach Heiner Brand explained, completely distraught: “I’ve always resisted the term winter fairy tale. But what happened in the last few games is absolutely extraordinary. It’s a great story for our sport.” With the World Cup title, Brand himself became an absolute handball icon in this country as a coach, after becoming world champion as a player 29 years earlier.
The pictures of the DHB stars dancing and celebrating with their Heiner Brand walrus beards stuck on are unforgettable to this day.
