The German women’s national handball team starts its European Championship qualification against Ukraine. From a sporting point of view, the game has great value, but other things will be in the foreground. stand.
Ukraine in sight, Israel in mind: national coach Markus Gaugisch and his handball players are a bit worried at the moment. After the cancellation of the Israel international match, to focus on the upcoming start of the European Championship qualification against Ukraine on Thursday in Wetzlar? It’s not that easy for Gaugisch and his team at the moment.
Absurd situation for them National team
“This is all totally surreal for me. For me, the bubble I live in is an ideal world,” said Emily Bölk at the ARD microphone. Playing against a team in a state of war is “completely absurd.”
Coach Gaugisch added: “The situations in Israel and Ukraine are things that naturally concern a team.” The “terrible events and the terrible images that come to us through the media” show “that many things are not going in the right direction and that our problems are sometimes infinitesimally small in comparison to what is happening in these countries “everyday life”.
Game in Israel canceled
The German national handball team’s game in Tel Aviv planned for Saturday has been postponed indefinitely due to the major attack on Israel by the Palestinian Hamas.
The World Cup in front of us
And yet Gaugisch and his team are currently preparing as best as they can for the game on Thursday (8:15 p.m.) against Ukraine. In Wetzlar, the selection of the German Handball Federation (DHB) is about setting the course for the European Championships with the start of qualifying – and, last but not least, gaining fresh self-confidence for the World Cup in Denmark, which begins on November 30th.
“We have to make sure we deliver and win the game,” said backcourt player Xenia Smits on Tuesday. After five international successes in a row, victory number six is expected on Thursday in front of just over 2,000 fans. “That is our task,” said Smits: “We want to be at the 2024 European Championship, that is our goal.”
500 free tickets for Ukrainians
Despite all the sporting appeal, the game is also intended to offer some Ukrainians variety for a few hours. The DHB has invited a total of 500 refugees to the game, and coach Gaugisch is also happy about the special setting: “It is very important that we are athletes who have a charisma. If we can make it accessible to spectators from Ukraine “To offer a great evening, then we have achieved a goal that goes beyond sport.”
