A few days before the start of the knockout round of the Handball World Cup, the German national team is plagued by personnel concerns. Franz Semper’s tournament ended due to injury; three players were missing on Saturday with flu. Alfred Gislason gave the all-clear after the Tunisia game.
After Rune Dahmke and Juri Knorr, Lukas Stutzke also dropped out at the end of the main round with an infection. Germany took part in the sportingly insignificant game against Tunisia with only 14 of 16 possible players. That was easily enough for the win, national coach Gislason was even able to rest numerous regular players.
“That was very important today,” said the 65-year-old after the game and expressed his confidence that there would be no further cases of illness before the quarter-finals on Wednesday. “It looks like we’ll get this under control and hopefully have everyone on board.” While Stutzke and Dahmke watched the game in individual rooms in the team’s quarters, Juri Knorr stayed in his birthplace.
Knorr appearance possible in the quarter-finals
The 24-year-old is “still undergoing examinations in Flensburg and is on the road to recovery,” the German Handball Association (DHB) announced on Saturday evening. “This spatial constellation plays into our hands, and the World Cup quarter-finals, which will not take place in Oslo until next Wednesday, give us more leeway in terms of time,” said national team manager Benjamin Chatton, referring to Knorr and the other convalescents. Knorr’s return to the team for the World Cup quarter-finals is “possible as things stand,” said the DHB.
National coach Alfred Gislason had already reacted to the illnesses of Knorr and Dahmke on Thursday and nominated Marian Michalczik from TSV Hannover-Burgdorf. Will other players follow? “Definitely not, no,” Gislason replied in the Sportschau interview on Saturday when asked whether there would be additional nominations. “We just have the players who are here and hope that the ones who are sick come back.” He was optimistic that Stutzke, Knorr and Dahmke could intervene on Wednesday.
Semper fairy tale with a bad ending
For Franz Semper, however, the tournament is over. The 27-year-old missed the start of the World Cup with muscular problems and only made his debut on Thursday against Italy. As Renārs Uščins’ backup, the left-hander impressed straight away, scoring three goals in 112 seconds and finishing with five goals. “However, he suffered a new injury in the game that made further use impossible,” said the DHB. Semper arrived home on Friday.
Germany easily won the last main round game on Saturday and was able to rest numerous regular players. On Sunday afternoon the DHB team will fly to Oslo rested – their opponent on Wednesday will most likely be Portugal.