2023-12-22 17:58:00
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The Swiss handball team has to do without the Bundesliga professional at the European Championships in Germany. He spoke to SRF about a “very bitter moment”.
The Swiss national handball team will have to do without their defense chief Samuel Röthlisberger at the European Championships in Germany (January 10th to 28th, 2024). The 78-time national player suffered a ligament injury in his hand and had to go under the knife on Friday. The downtime is estimated to be around six weeks.
The veteran gives the all-clear as the operation went well and the pain was bearable. The setback takes a toll on him mentally. The anticipation was huge, so missing the European Championship tournament meant a big dream was shattered.
Legend: Must pass for the title fights in Germany Samuel Röthlisberger Marc Schumacher / freshfocus
Röthlisberger suffered the injury last week and has even played one Bundesliga game since then. But the thumb remained unstable. During a further examination by a specialist, it was finally diagnosed that two ligaments in the thumb had torn and needed to be stitched together. “The longer it took, the worse my gut feeling was,” he describes. And now, of course, he refers to a “very bitter moment”.
Second key player out
Röthlisberger is already the second key player to leave national team coach Michael Suter’s squad. A week ago, Dimitrij Küttel had to forfeit after tearing an inner ligament in his left knee.
Röthlisberger received great sympathy. But he also deals with his fate in a very calm manner. “Handball is a team sport,” he says, “if one person is unavailable, the next one takes over.” He is still convinced that Switzerland can play a good role at the European Championships. “I’m looking forward to watching the team.”
The continental title fights are taking place in Germany for the first time. Switzerland will play its first group game against the hosts on January 10th in front of a record crowd of 53,000 spectators at the Düsseldorf football stadium. The other group opponents are France and North Macedonia.
Live notice
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Follow the preliminary round games of the Swiss handball team at the European Championships in Germany as follows on SRF two and in the sports app:
- Wednesday, January 10th: Germany – Switzerland, 8:15 p.m
- Sunday, January 14th: Switzerland – France, 5:45 p.m
- Tuesday, January 16th: North Macedonia – Switzerland, 5:45 p.m
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