There are days when Julia Behnke feels lost. "It's like I'm at the bottom of the world," says the German national handball player. Behnke left for the unknown a few months ago to arrive at the top.
The 26-year-old has changed in the summer of TuS Metzingen in the Russian league: from a German Bundesliga club to the Russian top club GK Rostov on Don, from the Swabian town in the million-metropolis on the Ukrainian border. Behnke believed that this step was necessary to not only belong to the best in Germany, but eventually to those in the world. And perhaps this step was also necessary for the German national team.
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Julia Behnke is a runner in the German team
On Saturday begins the Handball World Cup in Japan. How well the selection of the German Handball Federation (DHB) will cut off, probably also depends on the achievements of circulator Behnke. Xenia Smits, who plays in France at Metz, misses the World Cup injury. Thus, Behnke is the only player in the DHB team, which is under contract with a European top club. Germany is among the outsiders at this World Cup.
Here you will find all important information about the tournament.
At the European Championships 2018, the German team succeeded in surprising. It beat record European champions Norway, but in the end it was only enough for tenth place. In Japan, getting at least seventh place will make it difficult to get the chance to attend the Tokyo Olympics next summer.
German teams are not top international
In order to classify the level of club handball in Germany, one look at the international performance in the current season is enough. The German champions Bietigheim failed in the first group phase of the Champions League with only one win in six games and slipped off in the second-rate EHF Cup. There is also the second-best German club with the Thuringian HC, after he had prevailed very close to the Russian team from Astrakhan recently.
For Julia Behnke and Rostov the journey to Astrakhan on the Caspian Sea was more exhausting than the game itself: "We won our away game in Astrakhan 13 goals ahead," she says. It was not the Russian league itself that was Behnke's change, it was the quality in the Rostov team. "Every training is like an international match," she says. It is a fundamental difference to their previous clubs in Germany. Now she has to go to her own limits with each training - and beyond. In Rostov alone play nine Russian national team. Russia belongs as a record winner (seven world titles) also in Japan to the favorites.
Philipp von Ditfurth / DPA
The Dutchman Henk Groener (2nd from right) has been the German national coach since 2018
"It's remarkable how Julia has developed in such a short time, she has made tremendous physical progress," says Henk Groener. The Dutchman has been national coach since 2018 - and will remain so for the time being. On Friday, the DHB announced that the contract with Groener was extended until 2021. In 2015, Groener had led the Dutch team to second place at the World Cup - 2016 to fourth place at the Olympic Games.
Talents are there
For the 59-year-old is a key in the development of its players in the daily training their clubs. But since these are not on top level, this is also a problem. "The best constellation would be if there were three or four clubs at the highest level in Germany," says the Dutchman. In Bietigheim and the Thuringian HC, the German players now earn a lot of money and can live on it. That's why her life is not yet fully focused on handball. "Girls need to decide what they want to sacrifice for their sport, and only if they sacrifice a lot can they develop," says Groener.
The national coach does not say it directly, but he probably expects more players to leave their own comfort zone and look for their luck at a top club abroad. But Behnke is the only one in the German World Cup team. There are great talents in Germany. In the back area play Emiliy Bölk, 21, and Alicia Stolle, 23, who have aroused the interest of big international clubs. At the World Cup, they have the opportunity to recommend themselves for larger clubs.
In the difficult preliminary round group with opponents like Brazil at the opening (Saturday, 7 clock), defending champion France, Denmark and South Korea strong performances are needed to qualify as one of three teams for the main round. Groener hopes his inexperienced team is well enough prepared. The conditions could be better.
