Glandorf and Roggisch back for Germany

The crucial period of the Men’s EHF EURO 2014 qualification is on the way in June, a period where both Germany and Slovenia need two victories in their final two matches to make it to Denmark.

To experiment with their squads and rehearse their teams for these important matches, the fourth and the fifth ranked teams from the World Championship in Spain meet for two friendly matches in Germany on 4 and 5 May in Magdeburg and Dessau.

The German squad includes two major changes, with Oliver Roggisch and Holger Glandorf being brought into the squad.

Team captain Roggisch is expected to return from his knee injury, which stopped him from playing the EURO qualifiers against Czech Republic (22:24 and 28:23) and after nearly a year of absence, Heuberger has nominated Flensburg right back Holger Glandorf for his squad.

It has been a turbulent year for Glandorf, first out due to an injury for a number of months and then not nominated for the World Championship, now Flensburg’s second best scorer in the VELUX EHF Champions League is back on track.

“We will use those matches as a fully targeted preparation for our EURO qualifiers against Montenegro and Israel.

“Glandorf and Roggisch are crucial parts of this puzzle to finish the qualification successfully,” Heuberger was quoted in a press release of the German Handball Federation dhb.de.

Germany currently have four points on their account in Group 2 lying behind Montenegro (six points) and level with the Czech team.

Slovenia lost both qualifiers against Iceland by one goal and are stuck on three points, ranking below Iceland (already qualified for Denmark with eight points) and Belarus (five points) in Group 6.

Germany squad for the test matches against Slovenia on 4 and 5 May:

Goalkeeper: Silvio Heinevetter (Füchse Berlin), Carsten Lichtlein (TBV Lemgo), Jens Vortmann (GWD Minden)

Left wing: Kevin Schmidt (HSG Wetzlar), Dominik Klein (THW Kiel)

Left back: Stefan Kneer (SC Magdeburg), Steffen Fäth (HSG Wetzlar), Sven-Sören Christophersen (Füchse Berlin)

Centre back: Martin Strobel (TBV Lemgo), Michael Haaß (Frisch Auf Göppingen)

Right back: Steffen Weinhold (SG Flensburg-Handewitt), Holger Glandorf (SG Flensburg-Handewitt), Kai Häfner (HBW Balingen-Weilstetten)

Right wing: Tobias Reichmann (HSG Wetzlar), Patrick Groetzki (Rhein-Neckar Löwen)

Line player: Oliver Roggisch (Rhein-Neckar Löwen), Patrick Wiencek (THW Kiel), Christoph Theuerkauf (HBW Balingen-Weilstetten)