The Swiss handball team start the World Championships on Wednesday against the Czech Republic - with the main round as their goal, with former world-class player Andy Schmid as strategist on the line, but without Manuel Zehnder to set the pace.
No time? blue News summarizes for you
- The World Handball Championship kicks off on Tuesday in Denmark, Croatia and Norway. Switzerland gets into the action on Wednesday with its opening game against the Czech Republic.
- Coach Andy Schmid talks about Switzerland's role ahead of the tournament opener and reveals how he intends to replace injured director Manuel Zehnder.
And then Andy Schmid has to laugh himself. He is asked in a media round table whether he would throw himself onto the pitch if necessary. "I played football yesterday - I was knackered after five minutes." Until a year ago and his retirement as a professional, the hopes of Swiss handball players rested mostly on him: Schmid, the multiple MVP of the German Bundesliga and 218-time international, who brought international glory to Swiss handball.
Now Schmid, 41 years old, is in demand in a different role than before, no longer as the gifted backcourt player he was until the European Championship in Germany in 2024 - but as a coach who is leading a young national team to a major tournament for the first time. The World Cup begins in Denmark on Tuesday, and Switzerland's goals are nothing other than to advance to the main round. The opponents on the way there are the Czech Republic at the start on Wednesday, Germany and Poland. "I never doubted for a second that that had to be our goal." Nevertheless, the stakes are high. Schmid knows that too.
The 14:27 in the back of his mind
Nominally, all three opponents can be rated higher than the Swiss. "But on certain days we'll have our chances if two or three players play above their limit and we have a good goalie. On others, we won't have a chance." Schmid also has fond memories of the last duels with Germany - such as the opening game of the European Championship a year ago, when the national team was outclassed 14:27 in front of a world-record crowd of 53,586 fans in Düsseldorf. "Germany is one of the best nations in the world. They have players who are significantly better on average than ours. Their two goalies (David Späth and Andreas Wolff, ed.) aren't exactly our favorites either. And they probably also have a better coach (Alfred Gislason, editor's note)," says Schmid with a grin.
And yet Schmid also emphasizes arguments that speak for his team. "What speaks for us is our light-heartedness. We have nothing to lose because nobody expects anything from us. We also have the chance to try something special. But first our focus is on the Czechs." Surprising the opposition with an unusual, unconventional strategy - a task for inventor Schmid.
Zehnder - the painful omission
He will have to realign the team anyway. Manuel Zehnder, the team's director and pacemaker, suffered a serious injury in the Yellow Cup against Italy at the beginning of the month: he tore his cruciate ligament, medial collateral ligament and meniscus in his left knee. He will miss the national team and his club Magdeburg for months. A bitter setback for Zehnder, the team and Schmid's planning. "That hurts. Mani is now of international caliber. A lot was tailored to him and planned for him to lead the attacking play," says the national team coach. "But that's just the way sport is."
And now? Who will fill the gap that is difficult to close? Schmid says: "We are now relying fully on Mehdi Ben Romdhane and Felix Aellen. We're now trying to put it together with them and have the right people on the pitch at the right time." Ben Romdhane is 23 years old and won two championships with Kadetten Schaffhausen; the 21-year-old Aellen from BSV Bern is already considered one of Schmid's favorites.
It is now up to the national team coach to give the players the right tools. "Of course, I have to coach them even more and exert more influence on their attacking play than I would have had to with Zehnder," says Schmid. "With both of them, it's also about trust and talking." This worked well against Holland at the Yellow Cup. The national team beat the tournament winners 34:33 at the end.
Schmid hopes that the change will at least bring something positive: unpredictability. "The Czech, German and Polish coaches probably know less about what to expect now."
The last time the national team reached the main round was at the 2021 World Cup in Egypt. Their best finish was fourth place at the 1993 World Cup in Sweden under Arno Ehret. That is unlikely to change. Despite strategist Schmid.
