Everyone knows him: Stefan Kretzschmar (2019)
The big 50th birthday party has been postponed. “I’m going to have a leisurely dinner with my wife and my in-laws. mother-in-law is cooking. That’s it,” says Stefan Kretzschmar in an interview with the sports image about his plans for his anniversary. He doesn’t want to answer the phone.
That’s better, because it should be ringing all day long, as the former world-class player is still probably the most popular face in German handball. The former left winger with the strong right and current sports director of the Bundesliga leader Füchse Berlin has been in business for more than 30 years. »Stefan Kretzschmar embodies handball one hundred percent. He’s one of the best ambassadors and image carriers,” says Frank Bohmann, Managing Director of the German Handball League. Bob Hanning doesn’t want to be inferior to that, the Füchse managing director considers Kretzschmar a “lucky stroke for German handball, which he has decisively shaped. He was always an outstanding personality and is still one of the faces of our sport to this day,” Hanning told the German press agency.
For national coach Alfreð Gíslason, »Kretzsche«, as the man with a penchant for flashy body jewelry is called in the scene, is »a figurehead«. Under Gíslason as coach, Kretzschmar won the German championship with SC Magdeburg in 2001, and in 2002 they were the first German team to win the Champions League. With the DHB selection, for which he threw 821 goals in 218 international matches, he won silver at the 2002 European Championships, the 2003 World Cup and the 2004 Olympic Games.
Even as a player, Kretzschmar polarized with his blunt manner, which predestined him for a second career as a commentator and functionary omnipresent in the media. He is proud of his image: »I would do everything the same way again. I haven’t missed anything. On the contrary: I think I lived a life for ten people given the many impressions and experiences,” says Kretzschmar in retrospect. He admits that not everything was always sunshine. Two fatal misses, for example: one in 2000 in the quarterfinals at the Olympics in Sydney against Spain and then another in 2005 in the European Cup final against TuSEM Essen. “Both games were lost because of me,” Kretzschmar grumbles sports image with the teeth.
Another omission bothers him even more: »If I could change something, I would have liked to have been a better father. I didn’t do that well and wasn’t there for the children in the form I should have been there.« In the meantime, however, the relationship with the daughter and son is »very good«; both play handball.
As a late birthday present, Kretzschmar is now hoping for the first championship title in the club’s history with Füchsen Berlin. The big party isn’t supposed to start until summer anyway. In Mallorca. Fits.
