Bratislava (dpa) – The corona chaos of the German handball players at the European Championship is never ending. After 13 corona cases in the team, national players Simon Ernst and Patrick Wiencek have now also received positive test results.
“Unfortunately, we got bad news again this morning,” reported DHB sports director Axel Kromer from the team hotel in Bratislava.
In addition to the defense specialists Ernst and Wiencek, a member of the delegation also tested positive. According to Kromer, they should all be largely symptom-free. Before the final main round game on Tuesday (6 p.m. / ZDF) against Russia, the German squad was once again decimated. “Of course, this is a borderline experience for all of us, also individually. Nobody has experienced it like this before,” said Kromer. How the virus got into the team is still a mystery to the DHB.
More DHB players departed from EM
Despite the new cases, no further players will be nominated for the tournament in Slovakia and Hungary, as Kromer said. Many of the players who originally tested positive have already returned home. Kai Häfner, Timo Kastening, Sebastian Heymann and Marcel Schiller followed on Monday morning. The DHB selection had missed the semi-finals at the European Championships and is playing their last tournament game against the Russians.
It is still open whether, in view of the tense personnel situation, players who originally tested positive will also be used. Goalkeeper Andreas Wolff or backcourt player Julius Kühn, who have also been isolated for days, are still in Slovakia. In order to be able to return to play, they must present two negative PCR tests after a quarantine of at least five days and receive medical clearance.
Backcourt player Hendrik Wagner was the first DHB player to celebrate his return to the tournament after a corona infection on Sunday evening in the defeat against Sweden. The second division professional of the Eulen Ludwigshafen complained about breathing problems after about ten minutes on the field. “Of course I had air problems, but that’s probably normal when you’ve been in the room for seven days,” said Wagner. “But I’m not worried because a doctor checked me out here, all values were great.”