It was one of the craziest stories of recent years. Andy Schmid, one of the best playmakers in European and global handball looked set to never compete at a World Championship.

In 2020, the star of Rhein-Neckar Löwen had steered Switzerland to an EHF EURO after a 14-year absence and finally, in 2021, the 37-year-old had his first appearance on the global stage.

Last year, at the EHF EURO 2020, he had scored 15 goals in the match against Poland, and Switzerland won 31:24. Even though they had missed the main round, this victory was worth gold as they finished 16th.

Due to the COVID-19 situation, first the Czech Republic had to cancel their participation at the 2021 World Championship in Egypt, replaced by North Macedonia, then USA was ruled out and the Swiss side were next on the waiting list.

“It was a completely surreal situation. I was supposed to be the teacher for my two kids in the time of the lockdown, as we have homeschooling in Germany. Then I received a phone call, had to wash my equipment and pack my bag.

“47 hours later I was part of the World Championship. I never thought about not departing to Egypt as I knew that this might be the last chance in my whole life to play at a World Championship,” Schmid says, looking back on the days before the event began.

Off the plane and on to victory

Due to snow at Zurich airport, the flight to Egypt was delayed by two hours. The Swiss team did not even have the chance to check-in at the team hotel before their first match but went straight after their initial COVID tests to the playing hall.

Schmid scored seven times, and Switzerland took a never expected 28:25 victory against their neighbours Austria in their first World Championship match since 1995.

Switzerland made it to the main round, beat Iceland and Algeria, and again finished 16th. Schmid scored 44 goals to finish sixth on the top scorer list, right below MVP Mikkel Hansen.

“We achieved some miracles - for us, the players, for the whole of handball in Switzerland. We managed to delight the people at home and had an incredible 12 days in Egypt,” said Schmid after the adventure to the pyramids had come to an end.

“We did such a great job there, we and mainly our coach Michael Suter and his staff did a great job in the last year to improve handball in Switzerland. We received so many posts and likes from all over the world, who crossed their fingers for us, simply incredible, how huge this interest rose for our little handball community in Switzerland.

“We had such a fantastic atmosphere in our team, everybody was dedicated to making Egypt 2021 a success, we did not have respect for big names when we faced the likes of France, Portugal or Norway.”

Back to business with Löwen

Andy Schmid is now back in Heidelberg, Germany. Like Uwe Gensheimer and Patrick Groetzki, his German teammates at Rhein-Neckar Löwen, who had played at the World Championship and finished only four positions ahead of Switzerland, he returned to training on Monday night after some days off to relax. Of course, Schmid had followed the World Championship until the final, where his Löwen teammates Andreas Palicka and Albin Lagergren won the silver medals with Sweden, while French Romain Lagarde finished fourth.

Those three did not travel to Schmid’s home country on Tuesday. Right behind the Swiss-German border, Löwen will have their first official matches in 2021, when they face Kadetten Schaffhausen twice on Tuesday and Wednesday in a double-header of the European League group phase.

Seven Kadetten players had been part of the Swiss squad for the World Championship - alongside Schmid.

“Of course, I have great contacts to Kadetten and know many of their players. So I am really looking forward to returning to Switzerland.”

Like his coach Martin Schwalb, Schmid expects his side as the favourite: “Though it is a special situation right after the World Championship and missing some players, we are happy to play again,” says Schwalb.

Schmid will be the hero tonight - and he is sure that the development in Swiss handball has not come to an end.

“We all know that the national team is the biggest asset for Swiss handball as we have now played two major tournaments in a row. But of course the clubs profit from the national team and the national team profits from the clubs, there is a perfect relationship, which caused this handball euphoria.”

In 2009, Schmid left Switzerland to conquer the handball world. He has played for Löwen since 2010 and his current contract is valid until 2022. He is far from done, however.

“If I again get the chance to play a World Championship in 2023, almost at the age of 40, I would grab it.”

But for the upcoming weeks, the focus is on Löwen and hopes of another international trophy like in 2013, when Schmid and Löwen won the first EHF Cup finals in the new playing system.

Now with the premiere of the new European League, Schmid will be an asset for the Löwen on the back of a miraculous start to the year.