World Cup start: The tingling begins: handball players are excited for the start of the World Cup

A casual saying here, a joke there: Germany’s handball players were in a good mood during the final training session in the huge Jyske Bank Boxen in Herning, getting ready for the hot start to their World Cup medal mission.

“Now the tingling begins, it can really get started. You see what’s at stake and you’re one or two percent more ready. An opening win is of course the goal,” said captain Johannes Golla before the duel with Poland on Wednesday ( 8.30 p.m./ARD and Sportdeutschland.TV).

For national coach Alfred Gislason, the game is “like a final. Of course we are the strongest team in our group. But the Poles are also young and play extremely fast ball,” said the 65-year-old Icelander and warned that they are probably the strongest opponents in the preliminary round to underestimate. Other rivals in Group A are Switzerland and the Czech Republic.

The goal is semi-finals

After the silver coup at the Olympic Games, the DHB team is heading into the finals in Denmark, Croatia and Norway with great expectations. “Of course our goal is to get back to the final and then take the step towards a medal. I don’t think it’s unrealistic, but it’s just as realistic that we won’t achieve that,” said playmaker Juri Knorr the World Cup chances.

“The semi-finals are always the goal,” said Gislason, explaining the high demands. “The silver medal at the Olympics gave the team more self-confidence. We now know that on a good day we can beat any opponent – except maybe Denmark.”

That is also the unanimous opinion of the experts. From Stefan Kretzschmar to Bob Hanning to world champion Henning Fritz – they all believe the German team will make it into the top four teams and ultimately win a medal.

DHB team has to improve

In order to create a perfect starting position for the main round, Golla & Co. want to march through the preliminary round with three wins. The poor performance at the dress rehearsal against Brazil (28:26) didn’t change that. “Every player knows what they have to do better to get a good start to the tournament,” said Golla.

For the DHB captain, one thing is certain: there needs to be improvement in all parts of the team in order not to be caught off guard at the start. “We know that we need a very focused performance to start the tournament with a win. In a way, that is the foundation for a successful tournament. If we win and put in a good performance, that would be the best thing that could happen ” said Golla.

Just like last time at the Olympic Games. There, the opening success against Sweden provided a boost that catapulted the DHB selection to the final. This experience allows Gislason to sleep well before the start – despite the flawed performance against Brazil. “The team has developed further. The players don’t panic and don’t stress out when there’s a bad phase,” said the national coach.

Preliminary round should bring World Cup flow

In his opinion, there will be no sporting walk against Poland. “They are very good in man-to-man situations. We have to be much quicker on our feet than was the case in the friendly games against Brazil,” demanded Gislason. And Knorr warned: “The group is not as simple as many people think.”

Especially since, according to national team manager Benjamin Chatton, the Olympic silver medalist did not yet have the form in preparation “that you need to go far at a World Cup. We now want to work on that in the preliminary round.”

The team must therefore “be wide awake and take the task very seriously” against Poland. This is a team that can be dangerous to us,” warned Chatton. Especially since the DHB team has to adapt to a sparser backdrop than at the tournaments last year. “The biggest change will be that we won’t play in front of a sold-out crowd like we did at the Olympics and we won’t have the support at the home European Championships,” said Chatton.