Maximilian Schmidt reports from Cologne
The countdown is running. The first German European Championship main round game against Iceland will take place from 8.30 p.m. With a win, the German team wants to make up for the 0-2 deficit that they brought to Cologne with the 30-33 defeat against Olympic champions France. And now it is clear which squad Alfred Gislason will use for the start of the main round.
The national coach trusts the 16 players who also played in the convincing opening game against Switzerland (27:14) and recently in the France game. After the first European Championship game – the world record game in Düsseldorf – Gislason had to react to the departure of veteran Kai Häfner, who became a father for the second time. U-21 world champion Nils Lichtlein made his European Championship debut in the game against North Macedonia (34:25) – the Füchse left-hander celebrated his debut in Berlin of all places and scored a goal.
For the France game – Häfner had returned in time to begin preparation – Gislason unsurprisingly rotated back. Häfner’s quality and experience are too important to him. Around an hour before the first main round game, it became public that Gislason was trusting in his solid European Championship framework.
Relief for Häfner von Uscins and Steinert
With the routine of 139 international matches in which he scored a total of 335 goals, Häfner is placed in the right back. Gislason has also occasionally relied on Renars Uscins (nine international matches, twelve goals) from TSV Hannover-Burgdorf, captain of the U-21 world champions from last summer, and Christoph Steinert (35 international matches, 69 goal) from HC Erlangen. The latter is mainly used in defense; more often there is a so-called “specialist change” with him.
The German squad for the Iceland game:
Tor:
David Späth (Rhein-Neckar Löwen)
Andreas Wolff (Kielce Industry)
Left wing:
Rune Dahmke (THW Kiel)
Lukas Mertens (SC Magdeburg)
Back area left:
Martin Hanne (TSV Hannover-Burgdorf)
Sebastian Heymann (Fresh on Göppingen)
Julian Köster (VfL Gummersbach)
Back center:
Philipp Weber (SC Magdeburg)
Juri Knorr (Rhein-Neckar Löwen)
Back area right:
Kai Häfner (TVB Stuttgart)
Renars Uscins (TSV Hannover-Burgdorf)
Christoph Steinert (HC Erlangen)
Right wing:
Timo Kastening (MT Melsungen)
Kreis:
Justus Fischer (TSV Hannover-Burgdorf)
Johannes Golla (SG Flensburg-Handewitt)
Jannik Kohlbacher (Rhein-Neckar Löwen)
» Tables main round of the European Handball Championship
Main round in Cologne – 1st matchday
2024-01-18 18:44:13
#time #change #Germany #squad #game #Iceland
