Annika Lott has returned to the DHB team after her injury break. Against Uruguay, the backcourt player showed how important she could become.
Annika Lott stood in the interview zone after the win against Uruguay and paused briefly. “How should I answer that?”she said when asked how she sees her role in the DHB team, “I’m just happy to be back and do my best for the team.”
She was missing from the DHB team for several weeks due to injury and was last on the field in September against the Netherlands. She missed the European Championship qualification in October and the two test matches against Switzerland in the immediate preparation for the World Cup. The reason: The shoulder was causing problems.
Lott there immediately
There was no sign of this during their comeback in the second World Cup preliminary round game. “The shoulder holds. I think we saw that today”she said confidently, but in monosyllables, into the microphone. Lott preferred to let actions speak for themselves.
After almost twenty minutes, national coach Markus Gaugisch sent the backcourt player into the game. Lott was there straight away, scored in the first minute after coming on as a substitute, won balls in defense and put her teammates in the spotlight. Three goals in three attempts, two assists, one turnover – these were the official statistics after the game.
More opportunities for the DHB team
“I can’t say anything wrong now”laughed teammate Nieke Kühne in an interview after the game when asked about Lott, who was standing two meters next to her. “It was definitely a lot of fun playing alongside her today”says Kühne, “She directs the game well and can also throw from the backcourt. She’s a different type of player.”
National coach Markus Gaugisch agreed with this verdict: “She’s a different player, like Alina Grijseels or Mareike Tomatier in the middle. She brings different qualities and that’s why it’s great if we can switch there“, said Gaugisch. For him, the 25-year-old is an important piece in his World Cup puzzle. He repeatedly emphasized that it was about using the breadth of the squad and remaining flexible. It was important “Being able to assign different tasks to different people.”
Lott did her job well against Uruguay – an admittedly unchallenging opponent – and gave an idea of what coaches and teammates mean when they say that she “plays differently”. She set accents, played passes and made movements that you are hardly used to from other players. She played bravely and made few mistakes.
Calm and discipline
“Anni is basically a very concentrated, calm person”Gaugisch described the backcourt player, who plays in the league for the French club Brest Bretagne. “She deals with a lot of things very confidently, I like that”praised the national coach. This is another reason why worries about Lott’s shoulder are limited for the rest of the tournament: “The shoulder feels quite good, I feel safe”assured Lott himself.
“Anni is very disciplined, takes care of herself, does a lot of shoulder strength training”Gaugisch confirmed, pointing out that the medical department continues to take good care of the shoulder. “Whenever you have something, you have to invest more if you want to be at that level. I’m sure she does that.”
Looking ahead
The game against Uruguay was a good start for Lott, but her eyes were set straight ahead. “It’s moving on for us now”said Lott. On Sunday (November 30th, 6 p.m.) the German team will face Serbia in the last preliminary round game. “The most important thing in the tournament is to have the focus on us. Then we will be strong enough to beat almost everyone.” Your impulses could be decisive.