Germany: Kraus is out for Serbia

As previously announced, after Vid Kavticnik, William Accambray, Jonas Källman and Àrpád Sterbik, another top player will miss the EHF EURO 2012 in Serbia: Germany´s Michael Kraus will not be able to play for his team.

"He lacks practice after his several injuries, including his car accident in the summer, and four months with nearly no match time," German national coach Martin Heuberger explained, when announcing his EHF EURO 2012 squad.

Heuberger, the successor of German coaching legend Heiner Brand since July 2011, has selected his squad of 17 players:

"Unless anyone else gets injured, those are my players", said Heuberger. Apart from the enforced replacement of Kraus, the roster doesn’t contain any surprises. The new playmakers should be Michael Haaß and Martin Strobel – a couple that have stood in the shadow of Kraus for several years.

Those 17 players met on 28th December for the final stage of the EHF EURO preparation. The last friendly matches of Germany prior to the continental event will be against Hungary on 7th and 8th January 2012 in Bremen and Magdeburg.

After losing all three matches at the Super Cup in November on home ground, those are the only friendlies ahead of Serbia.

But Heuberger, who will be in charge of the men’s national team at a major tournament for the first time, is confident of reaching their minimum objective: a ticket to the Olympic Qualification Tournaments in April 2012.

After the German ladies failed at the World Championship in Brazil, the pressure on the men has risen, as several other German team sports (football, basketball, volleyball) did not qualify for London 2012.

"We all know that this EHF EURO 2012 is highly important for Germany and for German handball, and I put myself under pressure. But I see good chances to come closer to London in Serbia," Heuberger said.

His team has played two disappointing tournaments in the last two years: Rank ten at the EHF EURO 2010 was the worst ever German result at a Continental championship, followed by rank eleven at the World Championship 2011 in Sweden.

The German EHF EURO 2012 squad:


Goalkeeper: Silvio Heinevetter (Füchse Berlin, 65 international matches/0goals), Carsten Lichtlein (TBV Lemgo, 138/1), Martin Ziemer (HBW Balingen-Weilstetten, 4/0)


Right Wing: Christian Sprenger (THW Kiel, 79/169), Patrick Groetzki (Rhein-Neckar Löwen, 29/54)


Right Back: Adrian Pfahl (VfL Gummersbach, 27/83), Holger Glandorf (SG Flensburg-Handewitt, 144/514)

Centre Back: Michael Haaß (Frisch Auf Göppingen, 85/122), Martin Strobel (TBV Lemgo, 55/67)


Left Back: Pascal Hens (HSV Hamburg, 191/554), Lars Kaufmann (SG Flensburg-Handewitt, 117/285), Sven-Sören Christophersen (Füchse Berlin, 63/91)


Left Wing: Uwe Gensheimer (Rhein-Neckar Löwen, 61/197), Dominik Klein (THW Kiel, 137/261)


Line Player: Oliver Roggisch (Rhein-Neckar Löwen, 163/31), Christoph Theuerkauf (TBV Lemgo, 28/57), Patrick Wiencek (VfL Gummersbach, 9/10)
 

Further information

Download the Official EHF EURO 2012 Playing Schedule (pdf)

Buy your EHF EURO 2012 tickets HERE.

Ticketing is managed by the Serbian Organising Committees. Should you need further assistance for buying your tickets, please contact via email: tickets@rss.org.rs

Find more information on the tournament on the official website www.ehf-euro.com/SRB2012/

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