Simon Schobel

As of December 20, 2007

Simon Schobel ( born February 22, 1950 in Petreşti, Romania ) is a former Romanian- German handball player and coach of the German-speaking minority of the Transylvanian Saxons. He was national coach of the German national handball team of men.

Career as a player

The playing career of Simon Schobel began with 17 years at Universitatea Cluj. A year later he played in the Romanian junior national team. At 19 he played his first senior international in the Romanian national team. At the Olympic Games in Munich in 1972 he won the bronze medal with his team. He scoring two goals in six games. In 1973, he remained a guest Germany his club in Germany. When former regional league team TuS Hofweier he got a contract and in Mainz, he continued his sports studies. With the team, he was promoted to the Bundesliga.

Career as a coach

In 1979, the TuS Hofweier with Simon Schobel as player-coach German vice-champion. Quite surprisingly, he was appointed on 21 April 1982 as the successor of Vlado Stenzel with 32 years the youngest national coach in the history of the German Handball Federation. In his time as national coach the German national handball team won the silver medal at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. In the same year Schobel was voted " Coach of the Year ". His former assistant coach Heiner Brand was. After the German team failed to qualify for the 1987 Olympic Games in Seoul in 1988 and in 1986 was relegated to the B-Class at the World Championships, the contract was not renewed with Schobel.

Under Schobel the German national handball team played 129 international matches, of which 68 games and won 43 lost. 18 draws. His successor was Petre Ivănescu.

On 16 June 2004 Simon Schobel was taken in Offenburg in custody. He was accused of millions of dollars in tax offenses when importing garden furniture and steel products from Romania, his villa in Neuried was foreclosed. In February 2005, he was released from custody, the prosecution asked for a suspended sentence.