Martin Heuberger could become world champion for the third time with Germany’s young handball players. The success with the U21s at the home World Cup shows that he is in much better hands as a junior coach.
“As a head coach, he lacks charisma, assertiveness and influence from the bench.” This is what the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung wrote about Martin Heuberger. The verdict came in June 2014 after Heuberger had failed as national coach of the senior national team. The elite selection of the German Handball Association (DHB) had missed a major tournament under him for the third time.
Successor to the Lichtgestalt Brand
Heuberger took over the team in the summer of 2011 from the luminary Heiner Brand, who had become world champion both as a player (1978) and as a coach (2007). However, even with Brand, this team had only finished 11th at the World Cup in Sweden in 2011, and this indicated that times were getting tougher.
But the fact that the 2012 Olympic tournament, the 2014 European Championships and the 2015 World Cup in Qatar (for which there was later a wildcard) were missed was more sobering than even pessimists had feared. The third sporting failure in a row meant that Heuberger did not get a new contract after the old one expired in June 2014.
The DHB would still have liked to keep him, a post as sports director with a focus on youth work was under discussion. But Heuberger gave the association the cold shoulder and returned to his job as an administrative inspector at the district office of the district of Ortenau, where his birthplace Schutterwald is located.
“It’s a pity” Heiner Brand called Heuberger’s decision to “true professional” may be. But that probably wasn’t enough to ensure success with the senior national team, which also attracts a great deal of attention at major tournaments.
Heuberger is someone who prefers to work in the background. He doesn’t need the brightly lit stage, he doesn’t want it.
Return to DHB 2018
It took four years for Heuberger to let the DHB convince him to bring his expertise back. In December 2018 he again took over responsibility for the oldest youth teams, with which he had become world champion in 2009 and 2011 and thus a hot candidate to succeed Heiner Brand.
Heuberger, who remained loyal to his TuS Schutterwald as a player for 21 years, has since won another title. With the U19 he became European champion in 2021.
Semifinal against Serbia
Heuberger is now two wins away from becoming world champion with the U21. At the tournament in their own country, the semifinals against Serbia are scheduled for Saturday (07/01/2023).
“Serbia have a very strong team with concentrated attacking power. If the statistics are right, they have better attacking efficiency and a significantly better shooting rate than us.”Heuberger said on Friday.
The coach gushed about his team during a media round “Development steps are taking, at the moment even quite big ones”. He’s under pressure during the tournament “never felt it because I was convinced of the potential of the team”.
The squad be “very broad”said Heuberger, but above all “an incredibly tight-knit community”, and this could ultimately be the deciding factor: “Of course, sporting quality is important, but sometimes mentality is more important than quality.”
“What should Gislason interfere with?”
The large Max-Schmeling-Halle in Berlin with space for more than 10,000 spectators is the scene of the semi-finals on Saturday. First Hungary plays Iceland, then the selection of the DHB against Serbia.
Alfred Gislason will also be in the stands. The coach of the senior team has been a regular at previous games. On Friday, Martin Heuberger was asked if he was in contact with Gislason. He said: “What should he interfere with? Juniors, that’s our thing.” Above all, it’s his thing.