The 12,123 fans in the sold-out arena celebrated him with chants, the German players stood guard – and Johannes Bitter himself waved a broad grin to the audience: After the 21:28 against Denmark, the long-time German goalkeeper was officially dismissed from the national handball team . Bitter stood between the posts in 175 international matches for Germany in 21 years.
“It was an amazing time”Bitter said on Sunday over the hall microphone: “The 175 international matches always gave me goosebumps and are a huge privilege. Thank you for 21 years as a national team.” The long speech, promised the still active goalkeeper of HSV Hamburg, “Comes in a few years when it’s really over”.
Bitter, now 40 years old, made his debut in the selection of the German Handball Federation (DHB) on January 4, 2002. It was the beginning of a long career, crowned by the 2007 World Cup triumph at the “Winter’s Tale” in Germany. The success 16 years ago marks the last medal by a German team at a world championship.
Gislason: Great player in history
“He has done a lot for German handball for a long time and is one of the great players in history”, national coach Alfred Gislason paid tribute to the experienced goalkeeper. DHB sports director Axel Kromer also thanked Bitter on Sunday – but also said to him: “We know that we can continue to count on you when the need arises.”
Bitter’s career in the DHB team has been marked by several interruptions. In 2011, the keeper of HSV Hamburg took a break for the first time. The first return followed in 2014, after a few interludes he was back in 2019 as a permanent member of the DHB team.
Back in goal from vacation – “really crazy”
Bitter had already planned his farewell after the 2021 Olympics, but he was still there in case of an emergency. And less than half a year later, the 2.05 m man was back in the DHB goal. When the corona virus broke out in the German team, Gislason asked his veteran for help – and he rushed straight from vacation to the European Championship. “Really crazy”says Bitter looking back on his last international matches.