She fought bravely back tears. With red eyes, Emily Bölk took stock of what was, from a German perspective, a cruel handball game. 0:7, 6:16, everything was quickly over in this quarter-final against Sweden, and the fact that Bölk interrupted the television interview was mainly due to his own disappointment: “It’s extremely hard. We put so much energy into it and wanted to take this big step, but we weren’t able to do it,” she said, before being comforted by her colleague Alina Grijseels.
It was 8:27 p.m. (6:16 a.m.) on Wednesday evening; Instead of the semi-final against France, the consolation round of this World Cup will now continue against the Czech Republic on Friday morning and then on Sunday against the Netherlands or Montenegro.
Bölk and Grijseels, the two captains, were supposed to lead the national team through this longed-for knockout round game. But they, of all people, who are experienced and hardened, had a black evening in Herning, Denmark. The same applied to Xenia Smits and Julia Behnke.
Instead of mentality and class, there was only tension and mistakes – Bölk scored one goal, Grijseels four; Their control of the game didn’t come into play against the tough, fast Swedes. “We had no looseness or leadership at any level,” said national coach Markus Gaugisch on Thursday afternoon from the team hotel in nearby Silkeborg.
It was his second major tournament and he had to be included in all of it. During the desolate first half he seemed like he was in the wrong film. Shaking his head, then motionless, he watched. His coaching and his changes were also debatable. Like almost all the players, the national coach seemed overwhelmed in this situation.
On the other hand, his surprise at this unexpected event was also understandable: “We had previously played six excellent games. We went into this game confident and confident. There were no signs of such a performance.” Only when he made a change, for example in the goal, did his team get within 18:22 in the 54th minute. Nothing more was achieved because free throws from outside were missed.
A “decent performance” would have been enough to win against the vicious Swedes, said Emily Bölk. But this only came about in a narrow phase of the second half, when Viola Leuchter carelessly scored her goals and the second goalkeeper Sarah Wachter fended off many balls. You could also say: When it was already too late. Leuchter and Wachter were the bright spots in the Danish gloom, and playmaker Annika Lott was an asset throughout the tournament.
Frank Heike, Hamburg Published/Updated: Recommendations: 1 Frank Heike, Hamburg Published/Updated: Recommendations: 1 Frank Heike Published/Updated: Recommendations: 6
Inevitably, the explanation for the defeat ends up being nerve-wracking. They wanted to have the Germans under better control than in previous tournaments. Before the World Cup, Emily Bölk reported on the team’s collaboration with a mental coach. Gaugisch had specially created a book with moves to give his women security in crises. Nothing worked: “We missed all the basics and were inferior in all areas.”
“We can now finish fifth”
So the German women slammed the door to the semi-finals, which was more than a crack open, and the question remained whether some were already satisfied with making it to the quarter-finals. By reaching an Olympic qualification tournament in spring 2024, the DHB had fulfilled the target it had set itself. Would more pressure and greed have helped the Germans advance? Are the DHB women in a performance environment that squeezes out the last percent?
Gaugisch replied: “If we couldn’t manage our nerves, we wouldn’t have gotten in there at all. The four who are now in front of us are right there. We know our path and know where we want to go. We should let outside analyzes bounce off us. We can now finish fifth. That’s a lofty goal.” This simple assessment also came from the team. The others are still missing a piece, said Alina Grijseels.
As is the case in handball, the next tasks follow promptly. Reach fifth place, then secure the Olympic Games. The European Championships in Austria, Hungary and Switzerland are a year away before the highlight for the team comes: the home World Cup in 2025. Gaugisch’s team should mature by then.
