Handball World Cup: Relaxed and relaxed: DHB team ready for the Netherlands duel

Goalkeeper Andreas Wolff made one or the other casual comment – and even national coach Alfred Gislason seemed very relaxed before the start of the hot World Cup phase. After four wins in a row and some impressive performances in the finals in Poland and Sweden, Germany’s handball players feel ready for the trend-setting duel with the Netherlands.

“For us, this is the first match point. We want to convert it and move into the quarter-finals,” left winger Lukas Mertens announced the route for the game on Saturday evening (8:30 p.m. / ZDF) in Katowice. And captain Johannes Golla confirmed: “Of course it feels good to have everything in our own hands. We worked hard to get a good starting position and want to make it to the quarter-finals on our own.”

Wolff praises national coach Gislason

The national coach did not want to get involved in arithmetic games. “I really don’t do math. When you start doing it, it’s always wrong,” said Gislason. But nobody needs to use a slide rule before the game: if they win, the German team will be in the knockout phase of the tournament, which has been so promising so far.

Wolff sees the national coach as one of the keys to the successful World Cup so far. “Alfred is of course also very emotional, but still manages to bridge the gap between before and after the game very well,” said the 2016 European champion. “Despite his tension, he manages to give us a certain calm before the game to give, because he has an incredible amount of experience, an incredible amount of sovereignty.”

Assistant coach Erik Wudtke also sees Gislason as a key factor in the strong tournament so far. “It reflects sovereignty and self-confidence, which the team then picks up again,” said Wudtke. The Icelander is not always that relaxed, especially during the game. “But he’s relaxed enough to let us play football in training,” joked Wolff.

Wolff & Co. want to maintain this looseness and thus reach the first major milestone. Germany and Norway lead Group 3 with 6:0 points each, followed by the Netherlands (4:2). Serbia, Qatar and Argentina are already out of the running.

It’s about everything for the Oranje team

For the DHB selection it is about a lot, for the Dutch about everything. Wolff therefore did not want to talk about an additional explosive nature of the neighborhood duel. “It doesn’t have the same classic character as in football. There’s a bigger rivalry there,” said the 31-year-old, grinning: “But of course we want to send our neighbors home.”

Both teams live in the same World Cup hotel, where you occasionally run into each other. So far, however, there has been no trash talk between the players, many of whom know each other from the Bundesliga. Mertens, who plays with the Dutchman Kay Smits at the German champions SC Magdeburg, made it clear: “There is not the explosiveness like in football. But there is now a lot of fire in there because the Dutch have developed strongly in recent years. “

Even in the event of a defeat against the Oranje team, the DHB selection would still have another chance at the end of the main round against Norway to make progress perfectly. But nobody wants to risk that. “We will do everything we can to win,” promised Gislason.

However, his protégés are dealing with a completely different caliber than in the 39:19 gala against Argentina at the start of the main round. “The Dutch are really good, they switch from defense to attack very quickly. We have to do a lot of things right to win,” warned the national coach. Wolff is also certain: “It won’t be a sure-fire success.”

Especially since the opponent is dying to trip up the big neighbor. “Many of us play in the Bundesliga. We want to show that we can play handball well,” said Dani Baijens from HSV Hamburg. And Smits from Magdeburg emphasized: “Germany versus Holland is always a big fight. We’re ready and we’re very keen.” But that also applies to the German team.