Escape before the war: Ukrainian handball players a guest in Germany

The gray of the Russian attack war came in the early morning hours of the 24th of February with a loud bang in the life of Slava Lochmann. "At 4.30 am we woke up from the noise of the bombs," says the national coach of the Ukrainian Handball national team visibly moved. Since then, nothing has been done for the 44-year-olds as it was.

• The handball as valve
• "I've never held a weapon in my life, only a ball"
• Hope for World Cup wildcard

With his family, the former Bundesliga professional of the TV Großwallstadt initially escaped from the apartment in the center of Kiev to a friend to the edge of the Ukrainian capital. As the situation became more and more threatening, Lochmann made his way to Großwallstadt with his wife and the three children at the beginning of March, where he has many friends and acquaintances from his active time. "It's important that my family is safe," says the former backpart player in a conversation of the German Press Agency.

In the meantime, he has made up all national players who do not play in clubs abroad. They too were allowed to take their families. "I did not really want to get away, but it was important to me to bring my wife and children to safety," says Torwart Gennadi Komok.

The 34-year-old is one of Eleven players, which are under contract at the top club Motor Saporischschja under contract and how Lochmann were surprised by the Russian attack. When the team returned from the Champions League group game to the Polish Club Vive Kielce on February 24, the airport was under fire in Saporischschja. The plane was diverted to Kyiv, where it had to land on a field. Also in the capital already raged the war.

The handball as valve

The stay in Germany brings something back. But the special permit of the Ukrainian Sports Minister only applies only for 20 days. Lochmann hopes for more time. "I talked to our association president. Maybe we can stay for two months longer, I hope the team does not have to go home," he says.

The handball is an important valve for Lochmann, because the terrible events in the home do not let him go. "If we train or play, I'm 100 percent focused on the team. Otherwise, I only think of my parents, my country, and what happens there," says the former backpart player.

Above all, worry about mother and father is supposed to be his nerves. Both live in Saporischschja in the south of Ukraine. When he talked to you the other day, Lochmann says, was somewhere in the city a bomb detonated. Then the sirens howled. "They had to go to the air protection cellar. There they sit all day," says the gentle Hüne. "That sucks."

"I've never held a weapon in my life, only a ball"

National coach Slava Lochmann Picture Alliance / dpa

To stay in the home and fight against the aggressors as some athletes do was for him no option. "We are not fighting the front, but in the hall. We are not soldiers. I never held a weapon in my life, only a ball," says Lochmann and supplements: "The handball is my life. My Country I wear in the heart. "

In his view, the appearances of Ukrainian athletes are also of great importance in competitions. "We have to show that we have a country," says Lochmann. Therefore, in Großwallstadt twice a day is trained for two hours. In the fall, the qualification for the EM 2024 starts in Germany. "We have to be prepared for that," says the coach.

Hope for World Cup wildcard

In addition, he still flirts with participation in the World Cup 2023, although Ukraine could not compete for the play-off qualifiers against Finland because of the war. "I hope we get a wildcard for the World Cup," says Lochmann. One thing is much more important to him. "My biggest desire is that the war ends quickly. There are far too many people died, especially children," says the family father and adds desperately: "And what?"