In the European Championship main round: Heavenly support: handball players rely on angels

With games, videos and crocheting, Germany’s handball players led by whiz kid Nina Engel got in the mood for the European Championship main round on the four-hour train journey from Innsbruck to Vienna. An ambitious task awaits in the Austrian metropolis at the start of the second phase of the tournament against Switzerland on Thursday (3:30 p.m./Sportdeutschland.TV), before facing gold contenders Denmark and Norway and finally against Slovenia.

“We have a tough group in front of us, but you should never say never. We have our chances if we play at the highest level. Let’s see what’s possible,” said Engel.

The confident 30:19 victory in the preliminary round final against Iceland should definitely provide tailwind for the second phase of the tournament. “We are looking forward to these four duels because they help us to continue to grow under competitive conditions,” said national coach Markus Gaugisch and gave the route: “We look from game to game and first of all put our full focus on Switzerland good to start.”

Nobody in the DHB camp is talking about the semi-finals, because the burden of the 22:29 preliminary round defeat against the Netherlands weighs heavily. In order to be able to fulfill the dream of the first European Championship medal in 30 years – there was silver at the premiere in 1994 in their own country – the German team cannot afford another defeat.

Given the strength of Olympic champion Norway and Olympic third-placed Denmark, who marched confidently through the preliminary round, it was an almost hopeless undertaking. “We have seen how strong these teams are,” said DHB sports director Ingo Meckes and therefore also formulated cautious goals: “We want to remain humble. I’m not thinking about four wins. But of course we want to get everything we can.”

European Championship debutant Engel as a role model

And who knows: Maybe the German team will outgrow itself, just as European Championship debutant Engel has done so far in the tournament. The 21-year-old backcourt player from Bundesliga club HSG Bensheim/Auerbach performed carefree and was the best scorer against Iceland with seven goals.

“She plays freely, has fun, is self-confident and courageous. That’s refreshing. I hope she maintains this lightness. She has the handball skills. It’s nice to have a young player with so much self-confidence in the team “, Gaugisch praised the handball hope.

Engel had only made her international debut a month before the European Championships and actually only traveled to the finals as a backup. Due to Viola Leuchter’s absence due to illness, she came into focus practically overnight and demonstrated her great talent in all three games. “I’m just trying not to put too much pressure on myself. So far it’s worked very well,” said Engel.

Like Gaugisch, Meckes is also impressed by the performances of the dynamic left-hander, who is the best DHB shooter at the European Championship finals so far with 15 goals. “It’s fun to watch her. She’s certainly a very, very positive surprise,” said the sports director and expressed his wish: “I hope that other players will see that too and say that we don’t have to be afraid of anything. I hope so that others can follow an example.”