The DHB team will meet the Czech Republic at the European Championship in Croatia for the start of the main round (18.15 hrs in LIVETICKER). The “second-league squad” is the big surprise of this tournament and has with Ondrej Zdrahala a goal machine in their ranks, which really no one had on the bill.
Before the European Championship, the Czech Republic was regarded as a blatant outsider. Not even the team itself would have dared to dream of playing a serious role in Croatia:”Our goal was not to be a disgrace to our country,”said long-time Bundesliga player Pavel Horak.
Even this modest plan had moved into the distance after the 15:32 debacle at the start against Spain. However, after two surprising victories against Olympic champions Denmark (28-27) and Hungary (33-27), the team of Germany’s best-known coaches Daniel Kubes and Jan Filip are in the main round – like the DHB team with two points.
“It’s a real miracle,”defensive chief Horak can’t explain the high-flying. And Kubes added,”I don’t really want to use superlatives, but it’s a sensation what we did.”
The Czech Republic, which did not even qualify for the European Championship 2016 and the World Cup 2017, is a team that is largely nameless. Filip Jicha has finished his career, shortly before the start of the tournament playmaker Tomas Babak (Bergischer HC) had to cancel his participation due to injury.
In their plight, Kubes and Filip remembered Ondrej Zdrahala. The 34-year-old, who has meanwhile been working in Switzerland for St. Peter’s. has been reactivated. The result: In the first three games, the centre-back player scored a total of 25 goals (14 goals against Hungary alone) and is therefore the best first-round goalscorer of the European Championship.
“Because he hides in Switzerland, the whole world has forgotten how good he is. Now he has reappeared and surprised everyone,”said Horak joking about his team mate.
Apart from that, the Czech Republic has a solid goalkeeper in Martin Galia (Gornik Zabrze, Poland). With 14 stands, Stanislav Kasparek (Balatonfürdei KSE, Hungary) has also proved to be a right-back player.
The rest of the team is under contract with even more unknown clubs, some of whose names cannot even be pronounced accident-free by insiders. In addition, Leos Petrovsky, Milan Kotrc (both Bergischer HC), Tomas Mrkva (Balingen-Weilstetten) and Roman Becvar (HC Elbflorenz) are four professionals in the squad who earn their money in the second division in Germany.
“By name, we may not be as strong as Hungary and certainly not like Denmark. But we’re a wonderful team. Here are boys I didn’t know a year ago,”said Galia, who played in the Bundesliga for Göppingen, Lemgo and Großwallstadt between 2004 and 2013.
Due to the performances shown in the preliminary round, which the Czechs have already completed in Varazdin, the team is in a comfortable situation. The selection has already achieved much more than expected and can perform in the upcoming games against Germany, Macedonia and Slovenia completely liberated and with great self-confidence.
“We see here a real team that is well structured. She has a lot to win and nothing to lose,”said Jicha, world handball player of 2010, to the Kieler Nachrichten.
And Coach Filip added,”We’re living our dream now, and we hope it goes on.”
The DHB selection is warned. With 15 victories, two draws and three defeats, the balance sheet clearly speaks for the team of national coach Christian Prokop.
Anything less than a victory against the “second-league squad” from the Czech Republic would be a disgrace for the defending champion and would make the dream of the semi-finals burst.
“The Czech Republic is a team that has developed as an underdog and is playing free. They have a strong defence and good goalkeepers,”Prokop said. DHB Vice President Bob Hanning, following his clear announcements, said with a wink:”They have taken our role a bit outrageously. They came here light-hearted and rock the EM.”