Support from Gummersbach
Incidentally, one of the first to congratulate him after the win against Poland was his home coach Gudjon Valur Sigurdsson from VfL Gummersbach. Köster is the only second division player in the senior national team. “He wrote me that he continues to support me“Julian Köster quoted from his coach’s message. “He experienced everything as a handball player and won many titles. I can learn an incredible amount from him and I have a lot of fun in my daily work“, says Köster about Sigurdsson, who in turn is in close contact with national coach Gislason about the great talent.
But Köster has also had a close relationship with Gislason’s assistant, Erik Wudtke, from an early age. “He played a big role for me. I already know him from the district selection, where he sighted for the association selection. He was my coach for the youth national team for many years. It’s great that we’re seeing each other again in the senior team,” so Köster.
Close ties to Leverkusen’s host
Speaking of youth days: Julian Köster, who cites Domagoj Duvnjak from THW Kiel as his role model, has a special relationship with Leverkusen soccer professional and national player Florian Wirtz. “It’s funny, we come from the same village, went to the same school, and his mother was actually my first handball coach.” That was at TuS SW Brauweiler. As a teenager, Köster, born in Bielefeld, then played for TSV Dormagen from 2015 to 2018 before moving to VfL Gummersbach in 2020, with whom he is aiming to return to the Bundesliga in the summer.
But now it’s about confirming the top performance from the Poland game at the European Championship. And there the next big challenge awaits – European champions Spain. “The Spaniards are always among the favourites. They play unpleasant handball. It will be difficult,” said Koster. With his carefree attitude and his coolness, things could also get uncomfortable for the Spaniards.
Status: 19.01.2022, 2:19 p.m