It’s been almost a month since the success of the German soccer players, who were crowned Vice European Champion. He still serves as a source of inspiration, also in other sports such as volleyball. There, the national players want to take an example from the surprising success and team spirit of the soccer players at the World Cup, which starts on Friday with the game against Olympic champions France (5:30 p.m., sportdeutschland.tv).
“We saw with the women that the closer the team is, the greater the chances are,” says international Jan Zimmermann. In volleyball, too, individuals could make little decisions. “I think we’ve grown together as a team.”
The World Cup was originally supposed to be held in Russia. The German volleyball players, among others, protested against this after the beginning of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, so that the tournament was moved to Poland and Slovenia. The cohesion of the national team is also evident on the players’ Instagram profiles, where they regularly post pictures of vacations and excursions together.
Zimmermann has known teammate Ruben Schott for fifteen years from his time with the junior national team, but he is also close friends with other players. “We have a very good group structure.”
However, the player does not want to promise too much with regard to the World Cup. With good reason: In the Volleyball Nations League (VNL) this summer, the national team had a lot of problems asserting itself against the international top. This was mainly due to the fact that key players like Ruben Schott, Moritz Karlitzek and Lukas Kampa were missing. As a result, young, inexperienced players had to step in.
They also had a bit of bad luck due to Corona: Diagonal attacker Linus Weber tested positive during the tournament and then the team had to suffer a forced defeat against China. “That was an unusually difficult VNL,” says Zimmermann in retrospect, “we got off to a great start and even had hopes for the final. There could definitely have been more.”
The injured players have now recovered and have been able to take part in preparations for the World Cup. “It’s nice to have a couple of experienced players from the usual group with us again,” says Zimmermann, “that will definitely help us.” At the beginning of August, the national team played two friendlies against the Netherlands. She lost the first 3-1, but took revenge the following day with a 3-1.
“The quality was right,” said outside attacker Schott, “there was a lot that was good.” Because inexperienced players like Tobias Brandt got a lot of playing practice over the summer, the squad has also improved across the board.
Michal Winiarski, who has been the new national coach since April and has thus taken over the position from Andrea Giani, who switched to Olympic champion France at short notice, should also help to ensure success. “He brings momentum,” says Zimmermann, “and new ideas.” He also dealt well with the difficult situation at the VNL.
There he was particularly considerate of players like Julian Zenger, who had recently been in the Champions League final with his club before he was asked by the VNL. “Some were really drained, but he always managed to choose the right amount of training.”
Schott, who knows Winiarski from his time in Gdansk, is also enthusiastic. He pays more attention to regeneration than his predecessor and makes sure when controlling training that the players rest enough. In addition, there is no longer a language barrier. Winiarski is super communicative and just a great trainer.”
The players spent the past few weeks at the Kienbaum training center, which is located directly on a lake, so that they could cool off during the hot days. “But it lost quite a bit of water because it rained so little in the summer,” says Zimmermann. It’s the first World Cup for both him and Schott. “We want to go in easy but snappy. With a free mindset, but willing to show that we can do more than what we showed during the VNL.” Incidentally, opponents France had won the tournament.
This is followed by games against hosts Slovenia and Cameroon. From the six groups, only the first and second place and the best third qualify for the round of 16. But Zimmermann knows: “Anything can happen in a tournament like this, especially because the teams are close together in terms of level.” Something similar was read and heard before the European Football Championship. They have shown how it can still work.
