Both regular goalkeepers are out
DHB team reports corona cases eight and nine
01/18/2022, 3:15 p.m
Shortly before the final preliminary round game of the German handball players at the European Championship against Poland, there are two more positive corona cases in the DHB team. After the infections of goalkeeper Till Klimpke and Marcel Schiller, a total of nine players will be absent from the game in the evening.
The bad news for the German handball players does not stop. The DHB team is affected by two more corona cases at the European Championships and is going into the group final against Poland today (6 p.m. / ZDF and in the live ticker on ntv.de) in Bratislava with weakened personnel. A few hours before kick-off, goalkeeper Till Klimpke and Marcel Schiller also tested positive. This increased the number of Corona failures to nine players.
In view of the accumulation, those responsible for the Handball Bundesliga even brought a withdrawal from the EM into play. “All variants must be put on the table and discussed openly with all those involved,” said HBL Managing Director Frank Bohmann. Manager Bob Hanning from the Füchsen Berlin believes that only the handball nation Germany can cope with so many failures. But if there were “further cases in the coming days,” said the former DHB Vice President, “then you have to reconsider the positions and carry out a new risk assessment.” Bohmann emphasized that it was not about assigning blame, but about a “clear risk assessment, also due to the high level of infectivity”.
Only one goalkeeper capable of playing
Goalkeeper Andreas Wolff, backcourt players Kai Häfner and Luca Witzke and outsiders Timo Kastening and Lukas Mertens tested positive on Monday. Julius Kühn and his substitute Hendrik Wagner had previously been infected with the corona virus. All affected players have gone into quarantine. When they can be used again is still open.
National coach Alfred Gislason therefore nominated goalkeeper Johannes Bitter from HSV Hamburg and field players Fabian Wiede, Paul Drux (both Füchse Berlin), Rune Dahmke (THW Kiel) and Sebastian Firnhaber (HC Erlangen) late on Monday evening. After the absences of Wolff and Klimpke, 39-year-old Bitter is the only goalkeeper who can be used.
The quintet arrived in the German EM venue in Bratislava this morning, but initially had to go into isolation at the team hotel. After the negative results of their PCR tests were available, all of them can be used against Poland, the DHB announced. This means that Coach Gislason can use 14 players in the final game of the preliminary round of the European Championship.
For the German team, the game against Poland is about a good starting position for the main round, in which only the points from this game will be taken. Other opponents of the DHB selection in the second phase of the tournament are defending champion Spain, World Cup runner-up Sweden, Olympic bronze medalist Norway and Russia.