David Späth was still excited a quarter of an hour after the final whistle. On the one hand, this is due to his nature, as he said: “I sometimes shout out my emotions.” On the other hand, the 21-year-old goalkeeper talent from Rhein-Neckar Löwen celebrated his debut in the German men’s national handball team. He recently became world champion with the U21s, but before the friendly against Egypt on Friday evening in the Ulm Arena he was “really nervous for the first time in a long time.”
He was happy with his debut, even if he “always wants to win,” as the goalkeeper admitted. Späth made the best impression of the three goalkeepers used in the 31:31 draw against African champions Egypt. Silvio Heinevetter, who was brought back by national coach Alfred Gislason, and regular Andreas Wolff were unable to convince. “Egypt had the better goalkeeping performance,” Gislason analyzed logically, but also explained that this didn’t cause him “any worries.”
Gislason said he already knew what his goalkeepers could do, Heinevetter had impressed in the hard training and Wolff was finally coming back from a long-term injury, the 32-year-old was back on the floor for the first time since his slipped disc. “The goal was to give Andi ten minutes, he still lacks speed, but we knew that.”
Playmaking talent Nils Lichtlein starts with two mistakes, then shows his character and his great potential
Späth did a good job, especially in the final quarter of an hour, when he made a few saves and played a big part in ensuring that this test was not lost in front of 4,601 spectators, who kept the spirits up despite the German team’s mixed performance. The national coach was also satisfied overall, even though he would have liked to have won the game. The fact that the last two attacks fizzled out due to technical errors “annoyed me.” Gislason particularly enjoyed the defense, “we started very well”, which was mainly due to proven players like Julian Köster, captain Johannes Golla and later Christoph Steinert.
From this stable defense, the German team developed a respectable tempo game that gave them a 7-3 lead. But then technical errors or weak finishes began to creep in, which is what captain Golla had expected: “It was the first game in six months that coordination and communication were not yet optimal, it was clear.” In addition, they were looking for a “high-quality opponent” in Egypt “who will show us what is not yet working.” The Olympic fourth-place finisher in Tokyo was happy to oblige; Egypt probably has the best selection outside of Europe. With their physically strong game, the Africans repeatedly embarrassed the German team, led 18:16 at halftime and were always on equal terms in the second half.
Nevertheless, the hosts led by playmaker Juri Knorr, who, like Timo Kastening, was the top German goalscorer with six goals, put forward from the middle of the second half – although Gislason also allowed his highly talented players playing time. In addition to Späth, he also liked the performances of Renars Uscins as well as Tim Nothdurft and Nils Lichtlein, who each scored a goal. Although it was precisely then that the lack of coordination became apparent. Lichtlein, who is currently attracting attention as a Berlin playmaker in the Bundesliga, started the game with two bad passes, but showed “character,” according to Gislason, when he showed his great potential with fine passes from the outside and an individual action.
The two opponents will meet again on Sunday at the “Handball Day” in Munich, it is the last test for the German team this year. Gislason then worked with his players for another day, which we will see: “Today was okay, a game with ups and downs, it will be better on Sunday.”
