DHB squad for home European Championships is ready
National coach appoints four world champions and one newcomer
December 21, 2023, 10:26 a.m
National coach Alfred Gislason has nominated four U21 world champions for his European Championship squad, and four European Championship heroes from 2016 will also be there when the DHB team goes on the hunt for the title in Germany in January.
On January 10th, the German national handball team starts the home European Championship – and with a huge spectacle: More than 50,000 people will watch the opening game against Switzerland in the Düsseldorf football stadium. National coach Alfred Gislason has nominated a colorful squad for the big tasks: With David Späth, Nils Lichtlein, Renars Uscins and Justus Fischer, the Icelander nominated four U21 world champions, plus four more: Andreas Wolff, Rune Dahmke, Kai Häfner and Jannik Kohlbacher Players in the squad who sensationally brought the European Championship title to Germany in 2016.
With the nomination of Martin Hanne from TSV Hannover-Burgdorf, Gislason caused a big surprise: The 22-year-old has not yet played an international match and will now make his debut in the last two friendly matches against Portugal at the beginning of January. U21 world champion Fischer is the youngest in the DHB team at 20 years old, while right winger Patrick Groetzki is the most experienced at 34 years old and with 171 international matches.
“The European Championship starts in 20 days. I’m looking forward to our team, the work in preparation and the tournament itself,” explained national coach Alfred Gislason. In the preliminary round, the German team will face Switzerland (January 10th), North Macedonia (January 14th) and record world champions France (January 16th). “We have a really strong team that has very high quality and self-confidence and knows that the outstanding German home crowd has their backs,” says Axel Kromer, Sports Director of the German Handball Association. As before every major tournament, numerous candidates for the squad had canceled: pivot Hendrik Pekeler decided against returning to the national team, Berlin backcourt players Paul Drux and Fabian Wiede were missing due to injuries.
The German squad at a glance:
Goal: David Späth (Rhein-Neckar Löwen), Andreas Wolff (Industria Kielce)
Left wing: Rune Dahmke (THW Kiel), Lukas Mertens (SC Magdeburg)
Back area left: Martin Hanne (TSV Hannover-Burgdorf), Sebastian Heymann (Frisch Auf Göppingen), Julian Köster (VfL Gummersbach)
Backspace left/center: Philipp Weber (SC Magdeburg)
Back center: Juri Knorr (Rhein-Neckar Löwen), Nils Lichtlein (Füchse Berlin), Marian Michalczik (TSV Hannover-Burgdorf)
Back area right: Kai Häfner (TVB Stuttgart), Renars Uscins (TSV Hannover-Burgdorf)
Backcourt right/right wing: Christoph Steinert (HC Erlangen)
Right wing: Patrick Groetzki (Rhein-Neckar Löwen), Timo Kastening (MT Melsungen)
Circle: Justus Fischer (TSV Hannover-Burgdorf), Johannes Golla (SG Flensburg-Handewitt), Jannik Kohlbacher (Rhein-Neckar Löwen)