After a discreet New Year’s Eve party, Alfred Gislason drove from Berlin to tranquil Brunsbüttel on New Year’s Day full of euphoria and enthusiasm. The start of the final preparatory course increased the national coach of the German handball players’ anticipation for the upcoming European Championships in Germany.
“I’m happy to be able to experience a home European Championship now. It’s something special and a new experience for me too,” said Gislason to the German Press Agency with a view to the mega event from January 10th to 28th. “It’s something big for everyone who can be a part of it.”
The 64-year-old Icelander knows about the enthusiasm in the country that will carry the team through the tournament. After all, he was there first-hand at the 2007 World Cup winter fairytale as national coach of his home country. “Back then I experienced the special nature of a tournament in Germany,” reported Gislason. “Now I’m particularly looking forward to experiencing a tournament at home as Germany’s national coach. For me, that’s a highlight.”
Half of life in Germany
This is hardly surprising, since Gislason has now spent half of his life in Germany. “For me it is without question a home tournament because I feel very connected to Germany. I stayed so long for a reason. I like it here, I feel very comfortable here. As a historian, I am also a big German -Fan,” confirmed Gislason.
He has lived in a small town near Magdeburg for more than 20 years. He has now also rented an apartment in Berlin with his partner Hrund Grunnsteinsdottir. “I’ll probably never be a real city dweller, but it’s nice to have a contrast to my rural home,” said Gislason.
After he once led SC Magdeburg and especially THW Kiel to numerous successes as a club coach, he now wants to cause a sensation with the DHB selection. Gislason has been in office since February 2020, but the first major tournaments did not go as planned.
Fifth at the World Cup
At the 2021 World Cup, the team, weakened by numerous cancellations, recorded a historically poor result of twelfth place, and at the European Championships a year later, 18 corona failures in the team meant the end of all medal dreams. Last year, the DHB team showed its potential for the first time with fifth place at the World Cup.
The national coach would like to build on this with his 18 chosen ones. “We want to show that we have taken another step forward,” announced Gislason. In order to achieve this, he will work intensively on the European Championship fine-tuning in the coming days. “We have a few issues to work on. But I won’t do our opponents a favor and reveal what we’re up to. That remains internal,” he said with a smile.
Before the opening game against Switzerland on January 10th in front of a world record crowd of over 50,000 fans in Düsseldorf, he hopes to gain final insight into the European Championship form of his protégés in the international test matches against Portugal on Thursday in Flensburg and Saturday in Kiel. Other opponents in the European Championship preliminary round are North Macedonia and record world champions France.
If the tournament goes as desired, Gislason then wants to negotiate with the association about an extension of his contract, which expires this summer, until the home World Cup in 2027. “I really enjoy working with this team. I think they have huge prospects for the future,” he said and added: “But I’ve been there long enough to know that you have to be successful. And now.”
