Germany’s handball players are starting their medal hunt at the home World Cup with the best line-up.
The 17-man squad for the World Cup (November 26th to December 14th) is led by captain Antje Döll. The stars are also there with goalkeeper Katharina Filter and the backcourt players Emily Vogel, Xenia Smits and Alina Grijseels; national coach Markus Gaugisch refrained from experimenting with personnel at the squad announcement on Tuesday in Dortmund.
“From now on we are all burning for the common goal that we all have,” said Gaugisch, who still has to reduce his squad to 16 players for the World Cup opening game on November 26th against Iceland in Stuttgart. Other German opponents in the preliminary round are Uruguay (November 28th) and Serbia (November 30th). The big goal is the first German World Cup medal since bronze in 2007.
If the sporting gallop in the solvable preliminary group is successful, the title hunt will then continue in the main round in Dortmund’s Westfalenhalle. Possible German opponents in the second phase of the tournament are Montenegro, Spain, the Faroe Islands and Paraguay on December 2nd, 4th and 6th, before a possible German quarter-final will be played on December 9th – also in Dortmund.
With the World Cup squad presented on Tuesday in the Dortmund Congress Center, the final fine-tuning in Switzerland is now on the agenda. Part of this includes two duels with the neighboring country. Testing will take place in St. Gallen on November 20th, and the World Cup dress rehearsal will take place on November 22nd in Göppingen.
The German squad for the Handball World Cup:
Goal: Katharina Filter, Sarah Wachter
Right wing: Jenny Behrend
Back area right: Nina Engel, Julia Maidhof, Viola Leuchter
Back center: Alina Grijseels, Annika Lott, Mareike Thomaier
Backcourt left: Xenia Smits, Emily Vogel, Aimée von Pereira, Nieke Kühne
Left winger: Antje Döll, Alexia Hauf
Circle: Lisa Antl, Jolina Huhnstock