After the 22:19 victory against the Czech Republic at the start of the main round of the European Championship in Croatia, Silvio Heinevetter broke his neck due to media reports. And the goalkeeper has received support from his fellow players. National coach Christian Prokop relies on the team spirit and demands an increase in performance against Denmark (Sun, 6.15 pm in the LIVETICKER).
The past few days had left their mark on and off the pitch. This became clear after the painstaking victory against the Czech Republic when players and journalists met in the catacombs of the Varazdin Arena.
It was not so much about the critical reports on the latest manageable achievements of the Bad Boys. Rather, some players were annoyed by the fact that the team and national coach Christian Prokop repeatedly wrote about atmospheric disturbances.
“I’ve got my hands full of it,”said goalkeeper Silvio Heinevetter:”We decide everything on our own and leave the coach out. That’s bullshit. I don’t want to hear any more of that crap.”
Andreas Wolff explicitly agreed with Heinevetter on every point:”Stop writing stuff,” said the 26-year-old and added:”I never really read what you write anyway.
Last but not least, Steffen Weinhold, who was otherwise rather cautious, commented on the subject:”If you’ve seen the game, you can’t say that anything between the team and the coach wouldn’t fit.”
In fact, there was no sign of any atmospheric interference against the Czech Republic on the pitch. However, some of the Bad Boys were worried about this for much of the match.
In the first half, the goal rate was 43 percent, and even experienced players such as captain Uwe Gensheimer left the best opportunities open. The attack performance was bad, a point loss or even a defeat was absolutely possible.
“There is a certain amount of uncertainty,”admitted Gensheimer. Prokop explained:”We have gained opportunities, but we have not exploited them. Expectations are high, which is why the pressure of running after a backlog does not diminish.”
And the national coach continues:”I can remind you once again who beat Czech Republic. We could only survive because we played a great defence, stayed disciplined and finally had more clout and made better decisions.”
Twelve minutes to go until the end, it was thanks to the defence of Finn Lemke, Heinevetter (12% out of 29.41%) and eight goals best thrower Steffen Fäth that Germany had not yet lost the match against the Czechs, who were limited due to their player material.
“He was the player we could rely on. He has gone to the goal with enormous pressure,”said Prokop, praising the Berliner Fäth, who had hardly ever played in the first two games, but was allowed to do so from the very beginning.
Nevertheless, the defending champion was trailing by 16:18 after 48 minutes, with his nerves fluttering. Eventually Prokop had an ingenious idea: Although Heinevetter held convincingly, the man from Saxony-Anhalt sent Wolff between the posts. He then only scored one goal against him (3 of the 4 balls held), and the game completely overturned in favour of the German team.
“I had the feeling that a change could bring another boost. Especially from the outer right position, one or the other ball was too much in this phase. Wolff should give us new strength with his wingspan and size. After Heinevetter’s excellent performance, Wolff has driven the Czech players to despair.”
We are now going to drink one or two beers and eat as much unhealthy meat as possible,”announced DHB Vice President Bob Hanning, for example.
The bottom line remains to be said: the DHB team’s performance was manageable, as in the two draws against Slovenia and Macedonia. Nevertheless, there is still the possibility of entering the semi-finals with only one win from the two remaining games against Denmark and Spain.
In order to defeat one of the two heavyweights at all, however, a significant increase in performance has to be achieved:”In order to break something at this tournament, every player has to call up between 90 and 100 percent of his or her level. At least. Otherwise you can’t stand up to Denmark and Spain,”Weinhold affirmed.
Defense boss Lemke expects a duel against Denmark at eye level. Melsunger hopes that several players like Fäth will make it:”Steffen hasn’t played much so far. This time he started and the first litter went straight to the bend. When something like this happens, a momentum builds up, then you run around with a wide chest. Everyone who is here has the quality. You just need this positive experience.”
The Danes are also not unbeatable at this European Championship. Indeed, the Olympic champion defeated Spain and on Friday also in a sovereign manner Slovenia. But unlike the DHB team, however, it was a defeat for coach Nikolaj Jacobsen’s team against the Czech Republic.
“In order to defend ourselves strongly, we need more effective throwing and better decision making. We want to compete with Denmark with steam,”said Prokop.
The basic condition for this, the former Leipzig coach explained at the end of the match and once again directed the attention to the events of the past few days, but was not the tactics or the performance of individual players:”In handball, cohesion is the decisive factor”.