Silje Bröns Petersen currently has no time for the beauties of Valencia.

The medieval Serranos towers or the bullring are among the attractions of the Spanish port city; the playmaker of the German women's handball national team will hardly see them during the World Cup.

Your cathedral is currently the amusement arcade in Llíria.

At least the team hotel is not far from the sea.

It's eight kilometers to the beach.

"You can't run there," says Petersen, "but it's not far with the e-scooter, I like the sea."

National coach Henk Groener certainly has no objection to a few hours of distraction.

After the second convincing win in the second game on Saturday against Slovakia (36:22), his team secured participation in the main round ahead of the last group game on Monday against Hungary (8.30 p.m. on Sportdeutschland.tv).

“That was a start as we imagined it,” says Petersen.

For them everything is new and exciting in Spain.

She hasn't been wearing the national team's jersey for long, she hasn't even been a German citizen for too long.

On November 7th, the Bundesliga player of TuS Metzingen made her debut for the selection of the German Handball Federation (DHB) - a few days after she was allowed to pick up her identity card in Reutlingen at the town hall.

“For me it was a dream come true to play for Germany at the World Cup,” said the native Danish on the phone.

She doesn’t need a longer time to get used to it, the systems in handball are all similar, she notes succinctly.

“I just had to learn where my teammates were going.” She speaks excellent German with a slight Danish tinge.

Petersen, who grew up in a suburb of Copenhagen, has been living in Germany for five years, and benefited from accelerated naturalization.

Trademark: forearm throw

The idea to play for the German team came from Petersen himself. "I spoke to Henk Groener and told him that I really wanted to." most conspicuous players in the Bundesliga in the playmaker position. Her first professional station took her to Hungary in 2015. She played for HSG Blomberg-Lippe in East Westphalia until summer 2020 before moving to Metzingen in Württemberg.

Petersen has her strengths on the offensive, her trademark is her refined and powerful forearm throw. Although it is not one of the tallest at 1.73 meters, it often comes free to throw in front of the goal because it is fast, agile and tricky. It is important to Petersen that she not only improves her teammates with her tactical and strategic skills, but also helps them achieve easy goals with surprising passes. “I mustn't forget myself either,” she says. She wants to stay dangerous.

Axel Kromer is also impressed by her holistic play system. The sports director of the DHB calls Petersen a great option for the team and praises their Scandinavian training. "You can tell immediately that she has learned from childhood to throw from a standing position and play deep defensive formations with a high pass quality." Of course, he and everyone else hope that Petersen's special skills will be decisive for the game at a later point in time at the World Cup could become.

In Metzingen she is mainly in the attack on the floor.

She would like to lend a hand in defense more often.

“I want to be a two-way player,” says Petersen.

So a complete player.

National coach Groener trusts her to play this role, he already had her defended in half or outside positions at the World Cup.

“Nobody panics with us when she has to pull over the back,” says Kromer.

In any case, Silje Bröns Petersen is now looking forward to the main round at the World Cup, to at least three more games.

“It's going to be great,” she says.

There is only one thing she misses in Spain, her dog Molly, a cross between a French bulldog and a beagle.

“I would love to take her for a walk by the sea.” But Molly is currently in Denmark with her parents.