Around three months after winning the European Championship, the German national team coaching duo Alex Mumbru and Alan Ibrahimagic, as well as Dennis Schröder, were guests on Markus Lanz’s year in review show. The DBB captain took the opportunity to apologize to his coach for the painful body check after the European Championship final. The coach reacted emotionally.
Background: Immediately after scoring the winning goal just before the final buzzer, Schröder ran towards the Spaniard and, in his euphoria, rammed him in the chest. Television images showed Mumbru, who was still suffering from the effects of pancreatitis at the time, reacting with a pain-contorted face.
“After the last shot I made, I forgot about it and bumped him really hard,” recalls the 31-year-old. “At that moment, I didn’t realize that he wasn’t feeling well, which you can see from the look on his face. That’s why I want to apologize to him again here.”
At the same time, the DBB captain took the opportunity to praise his head coach from the national team for his resilience: “He gave everything to be on the bench,” Schröder said of Mumbru. “The message from the team was that we had to fight for Alex and win gold for him.”
Mumbru’s eyes fill with tears after Schröder’s words
The Spaniard, who, unlike Schröder, who was connected virtually, was there in person in the TV studio, had tears in his eyes: “Of course, this is very emotional for me,” Mumbru replied, visibly moved. “I was practically the new guy coming into a winning team with great chemistry. I just wanted to help them keep winning. They are winners—on and off the court.”
Because Mumbru missed much of the European Championship due to illness, assistant coach Alan Ibrahimagic famously filled the gap very successfully as head coach. He said he “didn’t really” realize that this situation would arise. “By the time I realized it, it was already too late,” said the 47-year-old, eliciting laughter from the audience. “At first, we didn’t know exactly what it was, only that it didn’t look good. But no one wanted or was able to tell us how serious it was, so to be honest, I didn’t think about it at all.“
A few hours before the game, the situation became clear. ”That was definitely a good thing,” Ibrahimagic made clear. The great team chemistry also helped. The rest is history.
