From Saturday evening in the Bielert-Halle zu Opladen, fans of the third division handball team SGSH Dragons will not only remember one picture, but this one: The cheering circle of the players with the red jerseys and in the middle of it a two-meter slap in a blue sweater, the winner’s fist stretched towards the ceiling of the hall. Ante Vukas, in general pose, father of victory. Again Nothing new in the West.
Schalksmühle – One day after the 25:23 victory in the top game in the former district town, which is now a district of Leverkusen, the hero is humble. “The guys covered very carefully and well, they made it easy for me,” says the Croat in a good mood. The SGSH has just taken second place with 14: 4 points. Also thanks to his help. But Vukas is not a loudspeaker, he prefers a team player, passes the praise on to the team. What is a goalkeeper without his defense?
Not much, it could be seen towards Baunatal. But even a good defense can gain strength through an exceptional goalkeeper. These days there is often talk of the difference players, those actors who can make the difference in a close battle of strength. Those who have such a player in their ranks generally consider themselves lucky. The SGSH has one thing above all these days: a difference goalkeeper.
“Ante is playing an outstanding season,” says SGSH trainer Mark Schmetz and does not even count the prank result against Baunatal. “The head hit at the beginning was so hard that Ante suffered a concussion. He even continued to play with it. You can’t judge that. ”Schmetz’s message: It wasn’t just the non-existent cover that made Vukas look like a worse copy of himself in those 60 minutes, it was also the knock-out at the seven-meter throw at the beginning of the game.
Good preparation is a “must”
If you look at the SGSH balance sheet these days, you can not help but notice that the two defeats of the season were recorded in games in which Vukas was either missing (in Longerich) or was there and was not there (against Baunatal). In addition, it held sometimes well, sometimes very well and sometimes like from another planet. The latter category can be attested for the top games against Krefeld and now in Opladen. Other top teams also have strong goalkeepers, but these days the impression is growing that Vukas may be the strongest of them in Season D.
The secret of success? This definitely includes good preparation, says Vukas. The Croatian likes to watch two to three videos of the opponent, as early as possible, not at the last minute. His impressions will only go to the SGSH goalkeeping coach and ex-Bundesliga goalkeeper Matthias Reckzeh during the training week. The goalkeeping team then uses the video impressions of the upcoming opponent and the throwing images to talk shop. It’s a kind of brainstorming how you can pull the tooth out of the next opponent. The second instance is then Mark Schmetz. He also watched the video. “I then tell him what I saw and what I could imagine,” says Vukas. Which defense system could help to avoid the rather unpleasant deals of the opponent and to force him to do the deals that also suit vukas? Of course, the decision is made by the coach, but the ex-Bundesliga goalkeeper from the Croatian Sinj can have an opinion. He has enough experience and know-how, no question about it.
In Opladen on Saturday, the SGSH’s defensive plan worked completely. The back area with its many closing options came at best through left-hander Marius Anger. In addition, the SGSH managed to force the hosts to throw over the outside positions again and again. And there Vukas remained the winner over and over again. “If you have then held two balls, you also get security,” says Vukas. Much more, however, it was so that Sonnenberg, Adams and Co. became more and more insecure. Like the Belgian national left winger Nick Braun in the Krefeld game, who looked like a schoolboy against Vukas.
On the stretcher of shattered dreams
Mark Schmetz was also amazed at the double and sometimes even triple parades of his keeper on Saturday evening. Schmetz knows what vukas he’s got. Mainly because the SGSH runs the “Jugend forscht” project behind Vukas. Neither Tjark Döscher nor Pius Hablowetz or A-Junior Michal Gorlas are seasoned third division goalkeepers. The times when Vukas alternated with goalkeepers like Formella, Plessers or Borchert depending on the form of the day are over. There’s a lot of strain on him this season.
“I don’t know if it’s an advantage,” says Vukas, who also got along well with a strong team man at eye level. Naturally. His first partner in Germany was the Czech Jan Kulhanek. That was in 2012 at TuSEM Essen in the 1st Bundesliga. Vukas was just 20 years old when he came to Germany, with Croatia he was U19 world champion. Now he wanted to know in the Bundesliga. A lifelong dream.
But then came February 8, 2013. Vukas held an excellent performance against VfL Gummersbach in the hall am Hallo in Essen – and then retired with a knee injury that turned out to be a torn cruciate ligament. There is a picture from this Friday evening, the same photographer who took the picture with Vukas in the winner’s circle in Opladen on Saturday, took it at the time for the handball portal handball-world.news. Vukas on a stretcher, the moment when dreams burst. For Ante Vukas, the injury was a turning point. He fought his way back patiently, but after two seasons in Essen (the second in the 2nd Bundesliga under coach Mark Dragunski) he switched to Leichlinger TV. In the first year there were again problems with the knee and a metatarsal fracture. From this time Vukas also knows the downsides of the sport, even if he later had very good times with the Pirates.
“I’m always interested in projects”
In the summer of 2022 he will have ten full years in Germany, five of them with the SGSH Dragons. At some point after his injuries, the keeper rethought and set new priorities. In Hälvertal he completed his training with the SGSH sponsor WACA and is now firmly in the saddle in addition to handball. Son and daughter go to Rainbow School, fourth and second grades. Vukas has arrived in Halver, his home country remains Croatia, but in Halver he and his family have found something like a second home.
Nevertheless, it is still unclear whether Ante Vukas will continue to be a keeper at the SGSH beyond the summer of 2022. “Of course I feel good here. It’s a very good team. And Mark Schmetz is a trainer that everyone follows and trust, ”he says. But at the moment there are still a few question marks with the Dragons. How much clout will the new team have? “For me it is always about projects,” says Vukas, “about a clear sporting goal.”
This year, this goal is for him a place in the “Top 3”. That sounds modest at first, because for the promotion round it would have to be the “Top 2”. “Of course I would like to play such a promotion round against the best opponents,” says the Croat, who will be 31 years old in December. Best goalkeeper age. It would be festival weeks for him, always new greatest challenges, always new top games against the best opponents – like that game against Krefeld or now in Opladen. Emotion games looking for the difference player. Or the difference goalkeeper. Vukas is ready: He would offer himself for this leading role on the most beautiful third division stages in handball.
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