“There is no handball god”
Tearful farewell to Andy Schmid – forever?
January 16, 2024, 8:40 p.m
After the European Championship exit with Switzerland, handball player Andy Schmid becomes emotional – and speaks serious words to heaven. Was it his last game in the national jersey? Meanwhile, three of the four main round opponents of the German handball players have already been determined.
After his last game on the big handball stage, top Swiss star Andy Schmid let out all his emotions. For minutes after Switzerland’s exit from the European Championships in the preliminary round, the 40-year-old crouched in a corner of the catacombs and cried. “I cried for three and a half minutes in the last five minutes. That’s why sadness is probably a slight understatement,” said the long-time player of Bundesliga club Rhein-Neckar Löwen on Tuesday after he found his voice again.
The 27:29 against North Macedonia could have been Schmid’s last game in the Swiss national jersey. “I have to go home and collect my thoughts. I have an association, I have a family and then I will decide in the next few days whether this might even be my last game,” said Schmid and sent a message to the top. “I now know that there is no handball god. Because if a handball god had watched the game here, he would have let us win,” said the playmaker.
Schmid: “It’s time to leave the field free”
Over 200 international matches, 12 years with the Rhein-Neckar Löwen, five times most valuable player of the Bundesliga season, twice German champion – the numbers of his impressive career speak for themselves. “It’s time to leave the field free for further development. I also know that it’s not easy to thrive in my shadow,” said Schmid. From summer he will be the coach of the Swiss national team.
Meanwhile, three of the four main round opponents of the German handball players at the European Championship have already been determined: Croatia, Hungary and Iceland. The still unbeaten Croatians beat Romania 31:25 in Mannheim and thus secured their ticket to the second phase of the tournament ahead of the final duel in Group B between Spain and Austria.
Hungary and Iceland, who met in Munich in the evening, will definitely be there too. Both teams benefited from Serbia’s 29-30 defeat against Montenegro, both of which were eliminated from the tournament. The DHB selection plays its main round games in Cologne. The top two in the group of six qualify for the semi-finals.