Handball EM: Stephan considers EM nomination risky:”Can become a boomerang for Prokop”.

Former world handball player Daniel Stephan (44) appreciates the cadre nomination of national coach Christian Prokop for the upcoming European Championship in Croatia (12. till 28. January) as risky. Above all, he sees the disregard of the two European champions Finn Lemke and Fabian Wiede as problematic.

“If these decisions do not lead to the desired success, it can of course turn out to be a boomerang for him,” Stephan told SID:”Many people don’t quite understand this cadre planning.

He was “very surprised by some of the non-nominations”. Lemke is, after all,”an essential component and the engine of the German team’s outstanding defence,” backroom player Wiede could also score goals of nine and a half metres,”said Stephan. Above all, the lack of defensive boss Lemke would probably shock some players in the European Championship squad and make others “unsure”.

Instead of Lemke and Wiede, Prokop takes the backroom player Maximilian Janke and Bastian Roscheck (both SC DHfK Leipzig) with them as fourth round robin. It looks a bit strange that Roscheck and Janke have been given preference by his former club Leipzig,”said Stephan,” but Prokop is the national coach and he is responsible for it. If he thinks he has the best chance of winning a medal with this team, we have to accept that.”

Prokop has “his own philosophy and must pursue it, but he is taking quite a risk with these decisions,”said Stephan:”The pressure is not lessened, on the contrary. But let’s all wait and see what the performances and results are at the European Championship in Croatia.”

The former world-class playmaker Stephan won gold medal with the German team in 2004 and won Olympic silver medal in the same year. He was Germany’s handball player of the year three times and vice-European champion in 2002. In 1998 he reached third place at the European Championship with the selection of the German Handball Federation and was awarded as world handball player.