2007 World Champion Johannes Bitter returns to national team to help Germany clinch berth to Doha-
OLDENBURG (Germany) 12 March 2014 – Reaching Qatar for the 24th Men’s Handball World Championship is the clear mission for the German Handball Federation after missing the 2012 Olympic Games and the 2014 EHF EURO. Now the Federation has managed to persuade a key component of their victorious 2007 World Championship squad to join the cause: goalkeeper Johannes Bitter.
Bitter, 31, will return to the German men’s national team for the crucial world championship qualifiers against Poland (7 and 14 June). Bitter and German head coach Martin Heuberger announced the surprise news in a media conference on Wednesday.
The 2007 world champion quit playing for the national team in February 2011, right after the world championship in Sweden. “I needed more time for my family,” he explained at the time.
Since that decision, the reigning VELUX EHF Champions League champion and 2013 IHF Super Globe finalist with HSV Hamburg had been asked several times to return. Now he has changed his mind.
“I felt absolutely honoured when the new board of the German Handball federation had asked me. I am even more honoured by the trust head coach Martin Heuberger gives. After intense discussions with HSV Hamburg and my family I now decided to come back to help the team in the upcoming major tasks,” Bitter said. “I believe I can help the team, leading them on the way to Doha.”
But his national team future after those crucial qualifiers with Poland is uncertain. “I’m only focusing on those two matches for now. Later we will talk and find out if I will continue playing for the national team.”
“We need to fight against Poland with the best players we have,” head coach Martin Heuberger said. “Johannes Bitter is really an asset for our team. I am absolutely delighted that he is willing to play again for Germany.”
Bitter’s club coach Martin Schwalb, who supports Bitter’s decision, shares Heuberger’s opinion: “Jogi is one of the best goalkeepers in the world. I understood when he quit playing for the national team in 2011 to have a break because of his family. But it is to his credit now that he wants to be an important part of German handball again. He is an absolute benefit for the national team.”
Bitter had his first ever match in a German jersey In 2002 when he was just 19, playing against Switzerland. From 2005 until 2011 the two-metre tall keeper took part in all major tournaments, including the victorious world championship on home ground in 2007. In all, Bitter has played 142 times for Germany.
Together with Silvio Heinevetter and Carsten Lichtlein, Bitter will now build a strong goalkeeper trio for the most important matches of German men’s handball in years.
“His comeback is a signal for the whole team. Goalkeeper and defence are the key for clinching the berth for the world championship 2015 in Qatar,” coach Martin Heuberger said.