“The situation is dynamic”: The German handball players have to complain about further corona cases at the European Championship. A tournament withdrawal is still an option.
After the decision to stay at the European Championships early, the German handball players do not rule out withdrawing from the tournament in the event of further corona cases. “The situation is dynamic. It is quite possible that we will make a different decision tomorrow,” said the chairman of the German Handball Federation (DHB), Mark Schober, late on Wednesday evening in Bratislava.
“We are having the European Handball Federation check the conditions under which a withdrawal is possible at a later date.” At first, however, they came to the conclusion “that we can take responsibility for staying in the tournament”.
The day before the handball classic against Spain, Omikron struck again mercilessly. During voluntary training in Bratislava, national coach Alfred Gislason only had one remaining squad available, and a little later it leaked out: Three other players have been infected with Corona – the personnel situation in the DHB team is taking on dramatic traits before the start of the main round.
DHB team nominates players
Despite twelve corona-related failures, the German team wants to play against defending champion Spain at least in the first round of the main round. The DHB has applied to the EHF to hold the first main round game of the German team on Thursday (6 p.m. in the Live ticker on t-online) against Spain to Saturday or Monday.
After the new corona cases on Wednesday, the backcourt players Lukas Stutzke and David Schmidt as well as right winger Tobias Reichmann will join the team.
Due to the positive results from Sebastian Heymann, the best DHB shooter to date, Christoph Steinert (17 goals) and Djibril M’Bengue, the number of German players in quarantine had increased to twelve in the afternoon. Eleven of the 17 players originally nominated for the European Championship are now out – plus Hendrik Wagner, who was called up later. Due to the previous nominations, there are currently a total of 25 DHB players in Bratislava, only 13 of them are available for the Spain game.
“At the moment you have to say that the chain of infection is not broken. Unfortunately, our EM team is a reflection of society,” said league president Uwe Schwenker to SID: “But now it makes no sense to load players from the Bundesliga indefinitely.” And so the only hope left is for the “corona explosion” (Gislason) to end very quickly.
No failures in the Spanish team
The Spaniards, on the other hand, have not yet reported a failure. Everything boils down to an unequal duel with the big tournament favorites.
Even before the virtual crisis meeting, Bob Hanning had warned against quick shots, especially since the course of the disease among the players was “mild” and hardly went beyond a cold. The former DHB vice president and manager of Füchse Berlin said on ntv that he himself was “a great friend of continuing the tournament because I also believe that some players will come back at the end of the group phase”. After five days, infected people can test themselves at the tournament in Slovakia.
Gislason had already vividly described the “very absurd situation” before the next Omikron news. “This is the most exciting time of the day, waiting for the results of the COVID test,” said the Icelander. The desire for the crackers in the main round is just as great as the fear of further corona cases. And they didn’t stay away.
The previous performances whet your appetite for more – and gave the players a broad chest in the fight for the semifinals. “We now have four finals, which we ideally win. If we can do that, a lot is possible,” tournament debutant Steinert said briskly – before he too was slowed down. Eleven of the originally 17 nominated players are now out – plus the nominated Hendrik Wagner.
At home, more and more spectators follow the lively performances of the badly battered selection of the German Handball Association. More than five million spectators watched the preliminary round against Poland, the best German tournament performance to date. Now not only the experienced Gislason is waiting for the “hardest opponent ever on paper and in reality”. Even without a dozen infections, his team would be a “blatant underdog”.
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