For the German handball team, the European Championship title defence project begins with a short course at the Kaiserau Sports School. National coach Christian Prokop slows down the euphoria.
With a smile on his lips, handball national coach Christian Prokop sat in the car on the drive to Kamen to the Kaiserau sports school:”The anticipation outweighs the tension, and I am glad that it is now entering the hot phase of the preparation for the European Championship,”said Prokop in view of the upcoming, labour-intensive days with his title holders.
About 1100 kilometres away from the team hotel in Zagreb, the German national team is preparing for the European Championships in Croatia (12th place) at the time-honored sports school in Kaiserau. till 28. January). The focus is on getting together.
“The team must come together. Teambuilding measures are therefore very important,”said Prokop shortly after his arrival at the place where the 2007 German world championship team stayed during the “winter fairy tale”.
The 20 players have only one and a half weeks to recommend themselves at Prokop for the European Championship squad with a maximum of 16 players. In terms of personnel, the 39-year-old can draw almost from the full spectrum. Only back-room player Finn Lemke is lying in bed with bronchitis and couldn’t get to Kamen.
After his metatarsal fracture, Philipp Weber from Leipzig is still in advanced training but will participate in all tactical units. For the last EC-tests against Iceland (5. and 7. January) Weber will also be available.
“To speak only of the mission of defending the title would be unfair to the other nations”, Prokop braked expectations and added:”We have to set sub-targets for ourselves. It’s important that we get the bad boy mentality that has made us strong as a team in the past.”
Patrick Groetzki agrees with his coach:”This mentality is no coincidence. We have the quality to end up playing medals.”
Who of the 20 players appointed to the provisional squad will eventually be present in Zagreb, the national coach wanted to leave himself open at the beginning of the training course.
“I have several models. Maybe I’ll take more than 16 players with me,”said the successor of Dagur Sigurdsson. Accordingly, he will also use the courses in Kamen and Stuttgart for experiments.
Unlike in Kamen, the training sessions in Swabia will be very intensive. At the latest for the second preparatory game against Iceland, the basic structure of the European Championship squad will be in place.
“The final preparation takes place in Stuttgart. Probably the tension will then rise and reach its peak when we get on the plane to Croatia,”said Prokop, looking forward to his first major tournament as national coach.
After the dress rehearsal against Iceland, the national team will have six days to finish on 13 January. The European Championship’s opening match against Montenegro in Zagreb on 1 January is on the rise. Slovenia (15. January) and Macedonia (17. January) the other group opponents.