He can do it. Is not really so difficult. The eyes of a little pinch, the corner of his mouth pulling up, and, most important, teeth. One of the most simple and beautiful Gestures, with which you can took on people. Called a Smile, and sometimes to be contagious.

On Friday night, it’s like Christian Prokop’s hard to make a good face to the lost game. After the 25:31 defeat in the semi-finals of the Handball world championship against Norway, the disappointment that prevailed when the national coach and his players in a logical way. Basically, you had in the two tournament weeks earlier, however, the feeling that there is a completely different person on the side line in front of the German bench. One who has joy in his Job, the stringent and charming. The smiles also changes. The transformation of the Christian Prokop – she was hard to miss.

Procopius met a lot of the right decisions

a year Ago it was almost never, the Smile of the national coach. In his first major tournament Prokop had, quite obviously, not a lot of fun to the exercise of his profession. He had a tense, thin-skinned, annoyed, felt misunderstood, wrongly criticized, and not taken seriously. During a break a photo, which would later serve as a symbol for the failed European championship in Croatia: captain Uwe Gensheimer looked at was his Coach, as this would be speaking Chinese backwards.

That it is in the interpersonal area will not fit in with that Team and coach were really green, but also in other Places. And as in such a phase: Eventually, uncertainty, and bad luck came in the coach. What Procopius touched and tried in the last European championship, you could bet money on it that it goes in the pants. Risk? Is equal to zero.

At this tournament in Germany and Denmark Prokop has not lost, on the contrary. He met most target-oriented decisions, set his Team well and reached with his squad by the German handball Federation (DHB) defined a corridor: to the semi-finals. Even if it’s not enough this Sunday in the small final against France in the bronze medal is not the German one thing: the participation in the qualifying tournament for the Olympic games in 2020 – an important goal for the Association, which has issued the requirement, to participate in Tokyo to Gold. The DHB they named the endeavor “project 2020”.

The player may have secured co-decide

by Reaching the semi-finals is likely to Prokop’s his job until further notice. If there is, regardless of the tournament a guarantee of a job for the national coach, was DHB asked sport Board of management, Axel Kromer before the world Cup Start in a big, public round. This is a dubious question, replied Kromer. “We are not thinking at all. We concentrate fully on the Sporting action.“ To quite the mind game, however, was not. If the national coach and his way of working in this world Cup have once again hitting the headlines of late – it might have been hard to keep to.

it was so, was due to the changes that Procopius declares, after the analysis of the weak European championship ready. He visited all the national players in their Bundesliga-clubs, listened to criticism and gave public error. He went to Canossa. Prokop, who has studied in Hildesheim, sports and business to become a teacher, chose later not without reason, the following metaphor: “In school you would have spoken of frontal teaching, so that it pretends to be everything. That was wrong.“ In this world Cup, the national coach gave his players a strong voice.

phase of the way, it was like in the Waldorf school, were able to convince millions of television viewers. During the time-outs, which are transmitted in football on live TV, asked Procopius in the team circle several times: “What we want to do? What we want to play?“ The coach delegates some tasks to its national team players – a very unusual process. Such flat hierarchies, there is not in the football normally, and certainly not at this level.

on the Defensive were Patrick Wiencek and Hendrik Pekeler the last word. The defensive specialists playing together with THW Kiel, you know in and out and were in the final instance to decide, whether they want to cover, for example, very offensive, or with the Hack on the semi-circle Position. Procopius was to some extent the great part: He decided whether his Team defended with a 6-0 Formation, or in the 5-1, respectively, of 3-2-1. The small decisions were allowed to meet the players. Similarly, in the Offensive. “Fabi makes the announcements for the front,” said Prokop, in a time-out. Then Fabian Wiede took over the word and verklickerte his had to perform next to people, processes and systems.

As a Team, the Germans have convinced

The truth is, however, also Prokop met in tournament history, courageous decisions. In the main round match against Croatia, for example, brought the semi-final, tipped the game after three quarters of an hour. The Croats made within a few minutes from 15:18-residue a 19:18 lead. It was one of those moments in which it was ordered to the national team. Some of the nearly 20 000 people at the sold-out Arena of Cologne were already in a state of shock.

And what Prokop did? He sacrificed his goalkeeper in favour of an additional field player – a variant that had not been working in the meetings before. In the preliminary round in Berlin, there had been a braying chorus of whistles for this Experiment, after three balls were flown into the empty German goal. “I had the whistles from Berlin, of course, still in memory and you could not understand because we have consistently and with Conviction,” Prokop said afterwards, “on the other hand, I had to try something, otherwise it would have gone wrong.” It went wrong: Germany defeated Croatia 22:21 and reached at an early stage the semi-finals.

Also, afterwards, at the press conference Prokop showed a new face, he led some journalists literally on the ice, and before them, in a sense, the mirror. Why his analysis was, according to the semi-finals, so in a factual and non-emotional is down, wanted to know a national coach. Prokop propped on the Podium, the microphone, and said: “Is also a very businesslike atmosphere in here, right?” Then he grinned satisfied. It was a counter that can also come from Prokop’s predecessor, it would always blow Icelander Dagur Sigurdsson finished. Between his first and second tournament Prokop had received training, as he has professionally, with the great Reporterpulk deal that accompanied the German team at the world Championships at home.

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As the German Team had already taken the journey in the tournament, Prokop gave a very interesting comment, you should probably take a bit of pressure from his Team. “It’s not just about how we’re doing in terms of numbers in this world Cup, that is to say: where we land,” said the national coach, “but also about how we present ourselves, whether we can convince as a team and the people carried away.” In this regard, you must be Christian Prokop and his players were not to blame.