Youngster Nieke Kühne impressed at the start of the German handball World Cup. The 21-year-old didn’t let on that it was her first appearance on the big World Cup stage.
Even one day after the World Cup opening game against Iceland, Nike Kühne still had a smile on his face. “It was just really nice to have a World Cup debut like that. It was nicer than I imagined”she said in the Sportschau interview. A World Cup debut like this means: 5 goals from 7 attempts, taking responsibility, praise from teammates and national coaches. “I was a bit nervous when I came on“, admitted the 21-year-old. You could hardly tell.
“Insanely cool”Alina Grijseels called Kühne’s performance, “She played with courage. She brought in her strength. If she continues to bring in this carefree attitude, then she will be incredibly strong.”
From the dwarf dance to the home World Cup
The youngest member of the team only has 13 international matches to her name. She only celebrated her national team debut last year. To be accepted into the team, she performed a “dwarf dance” with teammate Nina Engel and recited a poem about the team. She was spared a task on her World Cup debut. “They were very accommodating to me. I’m part of the team now.”says Kühne, who – as is typical for the youngest member of the team – has to take care of the balls.
Kühne has also integrated himself well in terms of sport. She particularly likes the attack variant with 4 backcourt players introduced by Markus Gaugisch. “I think I have a really good one-on-one and can run into the spaces well to get the advantage.”she said about the tactics that the DHB team hopes will surprise many opponents at this World Cup.
Simply “in the mood” for handball
“I just enjoy trying new things”said the 21-year-old, who says she is obsessed with handball. “I think my everyday life only consists of handball. I watch a lot of handball, all leagues. I also like to watch men’s handball, where I learn a few things.” She was particularly impressed by the playing style of Elias Ellefsen à Skipagotu from THW Kiel: “He’s always doing creative things, I try to imitate that.”
Kühne especially talks to his roommate Alexia Hauf about tactics, handball and everything surrounding it. The two know each other from the club and both play for HSG Blomberg Lippe. “It’s fun that you can exchange ideas at any time and not sit alone on the sofa in the evening”said Kühne, who has been living alone for the first time since the summer, “I’m more the type to live with someone.”
Looking forward to the game against Uruguay
In the best case scenario, Kühne will share the room with Hauf for another two and a half weeks. Then the German team would have made it to the final weekend in Rotterdam, the semi-finals being the big goal of the German handball players. Six games separate them from this dream.
The next: the second preliminary round game against Uruguay (Friday, November 28th, 6 p.m.). After the big unknown at the start of the World Cup, Kühne knows what kind of atmosphere to expect this time: “It was a goosebumps moment. The hall was on fire, even with the flags and the music. We’re happy to be able to play in front of such a backdrop again.”