The sport seemed to be slowly coming back into focus. Then Saturday came – and with it two new corona cases in the German handball players before today’s EM duel with Sweden (6:00 p.m.) in Bratislava.
After two days without new bad Corona news from the players’ camp, backcourt player Christoph Steinert and circle runner Sebastian Firnhaber tested positive. What does that mean for the game against the record European champions? What is it still about? And where can you see the game? All information here sport.de!
Is the semifinal still in?
Theoretically yes. However, the DHB selection no longer has the entry into the knockout round in its own hands. In order to keep the chance, a win against the Swedes is needed. In view of the continuing tense personnel situation, this will be difficult enough. In addition, after the defeats against Spain and Norway, another opponent from the extended circle of favorites is waiting for the DHB selection. And the Swedes are in good shape. The Scandinavians, who are equipped with a few Bundesliga professionals, started the main round with two comfortable victories against Russia and Poland.
Does the DHB team even have a chance?
Against Spain (23:29) and Norway (23:28) it became clear that this mixed DHB selection cannot keep up at this level. Who can blame her? After the positive tests by Steinert and Firnhaber, the number of corona cases in the German team increased to 13. National coach Alfred Gislason had to nominate a number of players for the tournament in Slovakia and Hungary, and goalkeeper Daniel Rebmann had never played an international match before . In this constellation, it will also be extremely difficult against the Swedes.
Will players return to the roster?
That is still unclear. Backcourt player Julius Kühn was the first DHB player to test positive a week ago. According to the tournament rules, he could theoretically have returned against the Spaniards on Thursday, assuming two negative PCR tests. But even on Friday for the game against the Norwegians, Kühn’s test results still didn’t show the results that would have been necessary for a return. On Sunday, other players like Timo Kastening or Kai Häfner would also have completed the prescribed minimum isolation of five days. But even with them it is unclear whether they can present the necessary negative tests.
Are there any other corona cases?
That too is still unclear. On Saturday afternoon after training, the team again completed PCR tests. The results are expected to be communicated on Sunday. It could well be that there will be more corona cases. Steinert, who recently tested positive, was still on the plate with his teammates in the game against Norway.
Germany’s results in preliminary round group D:
Friday January 14, 2022
6:00 p.m.: Germany – Belarus 33:29
Sunday 16 January 2022
6:00 p.m.: Germany – Austria 34:29
Tuesday, January 18, 2022
18:00: Poland – Germany 23:30
Main Round Group II: It continues with these appointments
In the main round group, Germany will face three co-favourites one after the other. Spain, Norway and Sweden are each given realistic chances to play for the title of this European Championship. Finally, the duel with outsiders Russia is on the agenda:
Thursday, January 20, 2022
18:00: Germany – Spain 23:29
Friday, January 21, 2022
8:30 p.m .: Germany – Norway 23:28
Sunday 23 January 2022
18:00: Germany – Sweden
Tuesday, January 25, 2022
18:00: Germany – Russia
The handball championship will be broadcast here on TV and as a live stream
Again this year, the games with German participation will be broadcast on ARD and ZDF. Eurosport also shows selected top games without German participation. The broadcaster has secured up to 18 encounters.
All matches of the European Handball Championship in a complete package can be seen at sportdeutschland.tv. The EM subscription costs a one-off fee of 12 euros.
In addition, sport.de offers a comprehensive range of live tickers for the European Championship.
The other German games are shown on TV here:
January 23, Germany vs Sweden: ARD / sportschau.de and sportdeutschland.tv broadcast live, throw-off at 6:00 p.m
January 25, Germany vs. Russia: ZDF / sportstudio.de and sportdeutschland.tv broadcast live, throw-off at 6:00 p.m
By the way: The final of the European Handball Championship will take place on Sunday, January 30th at 6:00 p.m ZDF broadcast live.
The squad of the DHB team at the European Handball Championship
19 players were nominated by national coach Gislason for the tournament in Slovakia and Hungary, 16 of which can be used in the individual games. The German team at a glance:
Goal: Andreas Wolff (KS Vive Kielce/POL, in quarantine after corona infection), Till Klimpke (HSG Wetzlar, in quarantine after corona infection), Johannes Bitter (HSV Hamburg, nominated later), Daniel Rebmann (Frisch Auf Göppingen, nominated later)
Left Wing: Marcel Schiller (Frisch Auf Göppingen, in quarantine after corona infection), Lukas Mertens (SC Magdeburg, in quarantine after corona infection), Patrick Zieker (TVB Stuttgart, nominated later), Rune Dahmke (THW Kiel, nominated later)
Back room left: Julius Kühn (MT Melsungen, in quarantine after corona infection), Sebastian Heymann (Frisch Auf Göppingen), Julian Köster (VfL Gummersbach), Hendrik Wagner (Eulen Ludwigshafen, subsequently nominated, in quarantine after corona infection), Paul Drux (Füchse Berlin , post-nominated), Lukas Stutzke (Bergischer HC, post-nominated)
Center back: Philipp Weber (SC Magdeburg), Luca Witzke (SC DHfK Leipzig, in quarantine after corona infection), Simon Ernst (SC DHfK Leipzig),
back room right: Kai Häfner (MT Melsungen, in quarantine after corona infection), Djibril M’Bengue (FC Porto/POR), Christoph Steinert (HC Erlangen), Fabian Wiede (Füchse Berlin, nominated), David Schmidt (Bergischer HC, nominated)
Right Wing: Timo Kastening (MT Melsungen, in quarantine after corona infection), Lukas Zerbe (TBV Lemgo), Tobias Reichmann (MT Melsungen, subsequently nominated)
Circle: Johannes Golla (SG Flensburg-Handewitt), Patrick Wiencek (THW Kiel), Sebastian Firnhaber (HC Erlangen, post-nominated)