- Title: Germany prepares for handball World Championship
- Date: 5th January 2017
- Summary: KAMEN, GERMANY (JANUARY 5, 2017) (REUTERS) GERMANY HANDBALL COACH DAGUR SIGURDSSON AND MANAGER OLIVER ROGGISCH ARRIVING FOR NEWS CONFERENCE JOURNALISTS (SOUNDBITE) (German) GERMANY HANDBALL COACH, DAGUR SIGURDSSON, SAYING: "Tobi Reichmann has had a long break, (Uwe) Gensheimer had a break over Christmas, Steffen Faeth hasn't played so much in Berlin, so there are lots of factors like that at play. We had some injuries in the second half of the year, so you have to look at it as a whole. My impression is that they're fit, they're motivated, they are training well and we have a good tempo, so I'm not worried at all." VARIOUS OF SIGURDSSON AND ROGGISCH IN CONVERSATION HANDBALL PLAYER KAI HAEFNER BEING INTERVIEWED (SOUNDBITE) (German) HANDBALL PLAYER, KAI HAEFNER, SAYING: "It's the usual suspects. France with the home advantage, Spain, Denmark, Croatia. And then there's a big pool around them. You have to keep your wits about you. You need to be focussed all the time and give it your all. If we do that, I think we can beat all of them." PLAYERS SPEAKING TO JOURNALISTS (SOUNDBITE) (German) TEAM CAPTAIN, UWE GENSHEIMER, SAYING: "I'm looking forward to the tournament. We performed really well last year with the European title and the bronze medal at the Olympics and now we want to be at the top at the World Championship too. We're looking forward to the challenge." GOALKEEPER ANDREAS WOLFF BEING INTERVIEWED JOURNALIST HOLDING MOBILE PHONE (SOUNDBITE) (German) GOALKEEPER, ANDREAS WOLFF, SAYING: "I think we're definitely among the favourites and we can win the tournament. We have lost a great talent in Steffen Weinhold but we have people to compensate like Kai Haefner and Jens Schoengarth. And apart from that we have a starting team who were European champions in January 2016 and who came third in the Olympic Games in August 2016, who only missed out on becoming world record-holders by one goal. So I am very optimistic about this tournament and I think we have a good chance at winning the title." WOLFF BEING INTERVIEWED
- Embargoed: 20th January 2017 12:57
- Keywords: handball World Championship Germany Sigurdsson
- Location: KAMEN, GERMANY
- City: KAMEN, GERMANY
- Country: Germany
- Topics: Handball,Sport
- Reuters ID: LVA0015XSXV7J
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:Germany's men's handball team is feeling confident ahead of the World Championship, Coach Dagur Sigurdsson said on Thursday (January 5).
"My impression is that they're fit, they're motivated, they are training well and we have a good tempo, so I'm not worried at all," Sigurdsson told a news conference in Kamen, Germany.
The tournament is to be held in France from January 11 to 29 with Germany's opening game against Hungary on January 13 in Rouen.
Team captain Uwe Gensheimer said he thought the team had a good shot at winning the title.
"We performed really well last year with the European title and the bronze medal at the Olympics and now we want to be at the top at the World Championship too. We're looking forward to the challenge," he told Reuters.
Germany beat Spain to become European champions in January 2016. In August, they overcame Poland 31-25 to win bronze at the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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