Erlangen handball players suffer bitter home defeat against TBV Lemgo-Lippe and sign Icelandic national player from Leipzig

It is always a special date when the Erlanger handball players invite you to the last league game of the year. Then all spectators are asked to appear in black clothing, because “Black Night” is a tradition for the first division club. After the game, all professionals appear in front of the sponsors and patrons in the VIP area to auction off their jerseys. This time, this campaign brought in an impressive 81,500 euros, money that will fully benefit the club’s youth work. So that many players like homegrown Tim Gömmel can develop there in the future. This is the path that the Erlangen team has taken in the struggle with financially more powerful competitors in the world’s best league.

The right winger Gömmel had done so well recently that his performances even brought him into national coach Alfred Gislason’s provisional squad for the World Cup in January. A confirmation for player and club, even if, as expected, the 19-year-old fell victim to the reduction of the World Cup squad to 15 players. The fact that Gömmel didn’t want to smile at all the good news at the Erlangen jersey auction was due to the 60 minutes of the game before, because HC Erlangen had suffered a bitter home defeat against TBV Lemgo-Lippe. The hall was sold out for the second time this season with 8,400 spectators, but the Erlangen team did not live up to this popularity in terms of sport: the 19:28 against Lemgo has to be interpreted as a low point for the time being, as half the season has been played. The end of the year game in Magdeburg was postponed because of the attack on the Christmas market. As a result, the people of Erlangen – in keeping with their motto – go into the World Cup break with dark thoughts.

Erlangen’s coach Martin Schwalb speaks of a “really dirty game” after the defeat

Even coach Martin Schwalb, who has every conceivable title as a player and as a trainer and is an incorrigible professional optimist, spoke visibly disillusioned of a “really dirty game”. The team had “so much planned”, but against the very structured and clever guests from Lipperland it was only possible to achieve this in short phases at the beginning of each half. Once again, the team couldn’t be blamed for fighting, captain Christopher Bissel or veteran Marko Bezjak threw themselves into the fray to such an extent that they ended up beyond the boards and one had to fear for their health.

The guests alone showed how to get the most out of limited opportunities, putting up a robust defense and patiently playing down their workload in attack. Lemgo coach Florian Kehrmann usually sent the seventh outfield player onto the floor to replace the goalkeeper, and the ball ran quickly back and forth between the backcourt players, orchestrated by Austrian national player Lukas Hutecek, often on the edge of the time game, before the gap was found in the circle or on the outside. Lemgo doesn’t have any big names in the squad either, but he knows how to use his resources profitably.

From Erlanger’s point of view, the game was a blueprint for the half of the season played so far, the defense was passable, but two or three mistakes were enough to rob the Erlanger attack of any penetration and the players’ self-confidence. At 11:13, the HCE seemed to be back in the game after initially being significantly behind, then U21 world champion Stefan Seitz bounced the ball off his own foot, Antonio Metzner, the best shooter with six goals like captain Christopher Bissel, was denied by the Austrian national goalkeeper Constantin Möstl. When Möstl’s Erlangen national team colleague Tobias Wagner also made a completely free throw, the hosts seemed paralyzed from then on. Each player passed responsibility with a pass to the player next to them, no one tried to make a decision, the main thing was not to make another mistake. In a league with such good quality, that is simply not enough.

“You saw again today that we lack the touch mentally,” explained captain Bissel: “Everyone wants to, everyone tries everything, but we can’t get any shots and then the ease is gone.” There’s a lack of continuity, a game idea – What this means can be seen from the opponent, who has been playing together for years: “Everyone knows what they have to do.” After all, Bissel knows that coach Schwalb is the ideal man in command to get this unsettled bunch back on track bring.

It is also true that two of the best, Sander Overjordet and Christoph Steinert, were missing due to injuries. The Norwegian national player is recovering from an inflammation of the heart muscle at home. Steinert is on the mend after the broken metacarpal he suffered with the national team and hopes to be fit again in time for the World Cup – the fact that he wants to take part there again immediately after the injury is reportedly not met with undivided enthusiasm from his employer.

Of course, the HCE recognized how explosive the situation is and brought themselves the party in left-hander Viggo Kristjansson. The Icelandic international will play in the World Cup like Steinert and Wagner, but he is exactly the type of player that Erlangen is missing: The 31-year-old can direct a game, is strong in defense and a goal threat, someone who makes the right decisions and can inspire his colleagues. Those responsible are also intensively looking for further reinforcements for the left backcourt. Kristjansson comes from Leipzig and was worth a low six-figure fee to Erlangen, which the financially struggling competitor could really use. In addition, Stephan Seitz will move to the Saxons in order to get more playing time there.

The reinforcements are made possible by a sponsor, and the people of Erlangen are doing brilliantly economically. Supervisory board chairman Carsten Bissel took over the club 14 years ago through the mediation of Bavarian Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann, who also sits on the supervisory board, and saved it from bankruptcy. The home of the club is now the Nuremberg metropolitan region, and the number of spectators is better than ever. Gone are the days when a grandstand behind the goal was covered with a large tarpaulin. Despite the sporting situation, the atmosphere was once again brilliant: The 8,400 spectators cheered on their team until the final siren, not a whistle was heard, not a fan left the hall early despite the hopelessness down on the floor.

“Even though we are playing so badly, we could have sold 15,000 tickets,” said HCE boss Bissel. Then he took the microphone in his hand, which is also a tradition at the jersey auction, and said: “We will not be relegated. I promise.”