Unlike his father, Schluroff decided against football, but has been able to celebrate small successes since then: Since moving from Minden to Gummersbach in 2022, he has gradually developed into a leading player and will face his home country at the start this Thursday in Herning, Denmark: Germany will face Austria in the first preliminary round game of the European Championship (from 8.30 p.m. in the live ticker on t-online).
Not much was missing and Schluroff would have worn the jersey of the German opponent. “I got a call from Aleš Pajovič a few years ago. 8.30 a.m., I was asleep, unknown number. I had to sort things out first, put up the shutters. Then the topic actually turned to whether I could imagine playing for Austria,” the 25-year-old remembered the call.
The call was a few years ago. At that time, Schluroff played for Minden. Pajovič, now coach of SG Flensburg-Handewitt, was still coaching the ÖHB team at the time. “Back then I wanted to concentrate more on club handball and I also feel like a German,” said Schluroff before the European Championship duel between the two teams. The Olympic runner-up’s other group opponents are Serbia and Spain. The best two teams reach the main round.