Handball national coach Henk Groener: Learning from Cruyff means learning to win

The beard should be a symbol - for slowly growing success. But now he is off.

After the German handball women had lost their fourth preliminary round match against defending champion France 25:27 at the World Cup in Japan on Wednesday, national coach Henk Groener shaved. He adhered to his plan to let the facial hair sprout until his team has suffered the first defeat. Now things start all over again. But it is not excluded that Groener will soon be a bit shaggy again.

Because the German handball players play in Japan so far an extraordinarily good tournament. Outsiders were beaten with Brazil (30:24) and Australia (34: 8). But also the record Olympic champion Denmark was defeated on Tuesday - for the first time in 19 years in a competitive match. There was also a good performance against France - one of the strongest teams in the world.

On Friday morning (11 am CET) Germany can make the group win perfect with a win against South Korea. For the team, a success would be important to take points into the second phase of the tournament and thus come closer to the actual goal of this World Cup: the participation in the Olympic qualifying tournament. It takes seventh place in Japan.

2015 Vice World Champion with Holland

That this goal is realistic has a lot to do with Groener. The 59-year-old Dutchman has been national coach since 2018. Previously, he had already led the Dutch women to the top of the world: in 2015, the team under his leadership became Vice World Champion. Holland finished fourth in the first Olympics in 2016.

At the European Championships 2018 in Germany Groener was selected by the German Handball Federation tenth. In Japan at the World Cup, it should now be a better placement. Groener could help with advice from football legend Johan Cruyff.

Nearly eleven years ago, Groener was involved in developing a coaching program at the Johan Cruyff Institute in Amsterdam. There are trainer-comprehensive trainers, but also leaders from the business community. While working on the course contents, Groener exchanged ideas with the now deceased Dutch superstar Cruyff, who as coach of FC Barcelona revolutionized football. "Johan told me: The good coach has to know himself," says Groener in an interview with SPIEGEL.

Lead by questions

Groener has internalized this: "You can only coach others if you can coach yourself," he says. At the World Cup games in Japan is striking, which calm the national coach radiates on the sidelines. For him, it's about controlling himself: "Emotions have to be used purposefully, if I were too emotional, I could not make clear decisions, I have to be able to see what the team needs," says Groener. The calm apparently radiates to his players. "Henk is open, communicative and very relaxed," says goalkeeper Dinah Eckerle, who has been able to convince with strong performances in Japan so far.

Groener involves his players in decisions and relies on their own responsibility. When his team narrowly led on Tuesday against Denmark, but the game was on the verge, Groener let the chance pass for time-out. Other coaches want to give their players final instructions in such a phase and therefore interrupt the game. Groener, on the other hand, trusted his team. It won the game.

Sometimes success has to grow slowly, and Groener follows the principle of "guiding through questions". In order to point out a player's potential for further development, he does not show her her weakness. He asks her specific questions until she is convinced of what she has to work on. "If someone wants to do more, it's more effective than telling him he has to do more," says Groener.

At the DHB they are taken with this style. "His group leadership is brilliant," says DHB sports director Axel Kromer on Groener. Just before the World Cup, Groener's contract was extended until 2021.

Focusing on the strengths of his players, Groener recalls Dagur Sigurdsson. The Icelandic coach led the German men in January 2016 sensational to win the European Championship title. Sigurdsson liked to talk to his players. When he then blew up the shell for winning the European Championship, Sigurdsson wore a small beard.