Germany’s handball players have to do without two Olympic heroes at the World Cup. Backcourt player Sebastian Heymann and pivot Jannik Kohlbacher are injured for the finals from January 14th to February 2nd in Denmark, Croatia and Norway.
Heymann canceled his participation in the World Cup due to a severe bruised foot. Kohlbacher has to sit out and even undergo surgery due to an elbow injury. For the duo from Bundesliga club Rhein-Neckar Löwen, national coach Alfred Gislason nominated Tim Zechel from German champions SC Magdeburg for the district and Lukas Stutzke (TSV Hannover-Burgdorf) for the backcourt.
Two test matches in preparation for the World Cup
“The short-term changes to the squad also kept us busy over the holidays, but we also exchanged many details in a targeted manner. I can feel a growing anticipation among everyone for the reunion and the World Cup.”said national team manager Benjamin Chatton.
Gislason doesn’t panic either: “I’m really looking forward to spending a longer time with the team again,” he said.
On Friday, Gislason will bring his 19-man World Cup squad together in Hamburg to prepare for the tournament. The program also includes two international test matches against Brazil on January 9th and 11th. At the World Cup, the DHB selection will face Poland, Switzerland and the Czech Republic in the preliminary round.
A little break should help
Until things get really serious, the processes from the successful previous year should be back in place. “The good thing is that we have had the core of the team together for about two years. That helps us enormously when we start preparing for the tournament. We don’t have to start from scratch.”said Gislason.
Like the national coach, the players were also able to take a breather and switch off for a few days over the turn of the year. “Of course we could have said we would do something two days before the New Year and start again two days after. But that would have been counterproductive. We wanted to give the players a little more breathing space.”said Gislason and expressed hope: “I think the short break was good for the players.”
Some problem children in the team
When the team arrives in the Hanseatic city, the calm is over. “We have to go through everything. Defense, attack, cooperation with the goalkeepers and so on”said Gislason, describing the tight program. The experienced trainer must control the individual load well, because: “There are one or two players who are coming back from an injury and are not yet 100 percent fit.”
This especially applies to the backcourt players Julian Köster and Christoph Steinert. “It will take a while for Julian to get back to his top level. And Christoph hasn’t played again after breaking his hand.”said Gislason.