Wednesday, December 1st, 2021
World Cup goal quarter-finals
DHB women finally have to escalate
The German handball women finally have to take another big step: for example into the semi-finals. Before the upcoming World Cup, the mood is good and there is great confidence. There is a lot of hope and a declaration of war.
Emily Bölk and Dinah Eckerle have already experienced enough sporting disappointments at major tournaments with the German handball players. This should be over now. At the World Cup in Spain that begins this Wednesday, the captain and goalkeeper finally want to get out of the mediocre with the DHB selection. “We want to do a good job. I hope that we can be a surprise team,” said Bölk.
Nobody speaks of a medal in public, but of course there is a great longing for it. The last precious metal for the German women came in 2007 with a bronze medal. “Of course it is very important that we present ourselves well at the World Cup. Not only for us, but also for the association. That attracts girls to the clubs and sponsors,” said Eckerle.
“Will have a lot of fun with it”
After all, the German Handball Federation has just launched a large women’s support program. “We believe that women’s sport can be lucrative. This does not mean that you earn a lot of money with it, but that people are interested in it. That is why we want to be more successful in sport,” emphasized DHB CEO Mark Schober. After the successful dress rehearsal at the four-country tournament the week before, self-confidence increased again.
“We are not at the top level like Olympic champion France or European champion Norway. But I think that we will annoy one or the other big player and have a lot of fun with it,” said Eckerle in a declaration of war on the competition. Similar tones came from Bölk: “We know that we can also beat the top nations. We have often shown that we can keep up. The art is to consistently achieve this.”
Despite being only 23 years old, the backcourt player is one of the most experienced in the team of national coach Henk Groener. Bölk has been in all tournaments since the 2016 European Championships – just like Eckerle. And the top performers have something else in common: both have been playing abroad for more than a year. Bölk near Ferencvaros Budapest, Eckerle after stops in Siofok and Metz since this season in Denmark near Esbjerg. The experience gained there should now also benefit the DHB selection. Top-level experience that the team urgently needs in the crucial moments of a tournament.
“Every year that we play in the club at a high international level, the national team also helps,” said Bölk. This is not the only reason why the national coach is spreading confidence against the Czech Republic before the tournament opens on Thursday. “We are more homogeneous in terms of the breadth of the squad than at the European Championship last year. And we have a team that is very closed. All the players have developed and are very positive with each other. That will be the key to success,” said Bigger.
More than mediocrity is needed
Other opponents in Group E are Slovakia and Hungary. However, the preliminary round and the main round should only be a transit station. The clear goal is the quarter-finals. DHB sports director Axel Kromer sees good prerequisites for this. “We believe the team has grown qualitatively,” he said. Groener hopes that his work will finally bear fruit. “We want to make our game more stable so that our performances are not as fluctuating as they were in the past tournaments,” said the 61-year-old Dutchman.
Again and again, his team had created promising constellations, but always brilliant starting positions were thrown and match points were carelessly thrown away shortly before the goal. The breakthrough, the entry into a semi-final or at least the victory in a big, important game, he did not yet succeed under Groner. The breakthrough back from mediocrity, it should and must come slowly. In 2019, after a surprising 25:23 over the great power Netherlands in the intermediate round of the World Cup, they won two “finals” for the semi-finals, but the team narrowly missed the one missing point. At the European Championship 2020, a 24:25 against the Netherlands meant the decisive blow in the neck. 7th place was then not even enough for the Olympic qualification.
A good performance would provide Groner with some arguments for the upcoming talks with the DHB after the World Cup about an extension of his contract, which is valid until April 2022. The team wants to do its part. “I think a lot of him, I really enjoy working with him,” said Bölk about the national coach. “We have seen good development in recent years and would like to continue on this path with Henk.”