The DHB gave the retiring women’s national coach Michael Biegler a good testimony despite his elimination in the last sixteen of the World Cup,”Of course we are all disappointed with the result, the sporting goal has been bitterly missed. Nevertheless, the German Handball Federation would like to thank coach Michael Biegler and sports director Wolfgang Sommerfeld,”said DHB president Andreas Michelmann at a press conference on Monday.
“We haven’t been able to fully compensate for what we’ve done in the last 15 years.”
After 20 months at DHB, Biegler changes to SC DHfK Leipzig, the men’s national league team. After finishing sixth at last year’s European Championship, the German team failed to reach the World Cup semi-finals:”The fact that we are so far behind in terms of sport is disillusioning and creates great disappointment. I am responsible for the result,”said Biegler.
“We’re on our way to give women’s handball a different status. We will analyse the time carefully so that we can draw the right conclusions and avoid the last 20 months running out of steam. January, the Dutchman Henk Groener takes over the German team.
“What Biegler and Sommerfeld have achieved with the team will also carry on beyond the World Cup. This is the road to the future,”said Michelmann:”They have shown how structures can be broken down. The women’s handball will be more important than ever before. Now more than ever, it’s our motto.”
In the SID interview, Michelmann reiterated his commitment to intensified efforts for women’s handball:”We have to get out of this macho stuff. This has been the basic evil of the last 15 years,”said the association’s head:”We always talk about equality, but in fact the women’s handball was something exotic for us. The Scandinavians have been showing us how it works for years. Countries such as Denmark, Norway and Sweden are our benchmark. That’s where we have to go.”