Gislason surprised by Pekeler's retirement

Hendrik Pekeler resigns from the national handball team and national coach Gislason knows nothing about it. The Icelander seems annoyed when he finds out.

, and Hanna Hofmann

2024 January 4 . 6:53 PM

1 min read

Handball - Gislason surprised by Pekeler's retirement

German handball coach Alfred Gislason has reacted with surprise to Hendrik Pekeler's retirement from the national team.

"I don't know anything about it," said the Icelander in Flensburg after the DHB team's test match victory against Portugal (34:33) and referred to frequent conversations with Pekeler. "That passed me by. We had discussed it differently," Gislason continued.

Pekeler, who had withdrawn from the home European Championship, had previously announced his resignation from the national team. The 32-year-old is to be given his farewell at the DHB match against Portugal in Kiel on Saturday. "When it was clear that I couldn't do it, I wanted to draw a clear line," Pekeler told the Kieler Nachrichten newspaper. "I'm a player who listens to his body and has reacted accordingly."

Pekeler had had problems with his Achilles tendon for several years and had to have another operation in the summer. The defensive leader of the Bundesliga club THW Kiel has played 122 international matches. Pekeler won the European Championships with the national team in 2016 and took bronze at the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro in the same year.