The sniffling secret of German handball players
Germany outclasses Algeria at the end of the preliminary round – the highlights in the video
The German handball players gain self-confidence for the main round of the World Cup with a thumping victory over Algeria. Although numerous top performers are spared, the DHB team ended the preliminary round with a perfect record. The highlights in the video.
Three games, three wins: At the World Cup in Poland and Sweden, things have been going well for the German national handball team so far. But what do national coach Alfred Gislason and some professionals inhale immediately before kick-off? The DHB provides insights.
Es seems like a little ritual. Just seconds before their games kick off, some members of the coaching staff and a few pros get a liquid substance dripped onto their hands, which they inhale through their noses and mouths with a deep breath.
Such short-term game preparation and strong performances on the field have so far brought the German handball players and their coach a small series of successes at the World Cup in Poland and Sweden: They went out with three victories from three group games. But which substance is it that is regularly administered right on the edge of the field next to the substitute bench?
According to the German Handball Federation (DHB), it is Japanese medicinal plant oil. One of the physiotherapists distributed this to national coach Alfred Gislason and some of the players.
Physiotherapeut Reinhold Roth
Quelle: picture alliance / Marco Wolf
Before the game against Algeria to connect the preliminary round on Tuesday evening in Katowice, it was Reinhold Roth, a long-standing member of the DHB supervisory staff, who dribbled the substance onto Gislason’s right hand and then breathed it in deeply. Meanwhile, backcourt player Philipp Weber had the oil spread on his jersey and training jacket.
Wolff’s warning
The new edition of the ritual for a clear airway will take place this Thursday evening. Then Germany will meet Argentina at 6 p.m. (in the WELT sports ticker) in the first game of the main round. Then on Saturday (8.30 p.m.) against the Netherlands, on Monday the duel with Norway follows (8.30 p.m.).
“We have three strong teams in front of us,” says goalkeeper Andreas Wolff about the starting position. “Argentina, supposedly the weakest team, still have players like the Simonet brothers who have incredible quality. Then the Netherlands with Luc Steins, who is one of the best middlemen in the world. That might be topped by players like Sander Sagosen and the other Norwegians. We have to fight that we can actually reach the goal of the quarter-finals because we have three very difficult games ahead of us.”
