It was meant to be more than a consolation prize at the end of a long, tumultuous tournament – it became the next big disappointment. A puzzlingly desolate first half blocked the German national handball team’s path to third place and direct qualification for the Olympic Games in Paris.
With their last effort, the Germans fought their way back into the game from 12:18 at the break, came close again at 29:30 shortly before the end, but had to admit that the Swedes were more mature, clearer, better on this Sunday afternoon: The 31: 34 hurts because the Germans leave the home European Championship with three defeats in a row and finish the festival at home with four wins, one draw and four defeats. The stated goal was achieved by reaching the semi-finals, but what could have been an encore was botched by the DHB selection against Croatia, Denmark in the semi-finals and now against Sweden in the bronze match.
Based on this performance, will the presidium and board of the DHB decide to extend the contract with national coach Alfred Gislason at the next meeting in February? It expires in the summer. “We have moved a little closer to the big players,” said Gislason after the game. There wouldn’t be much time for a realignment, because the national team is already playing for something again from March 14th to 17th. Then, preferably back home and perhaps in Berlin, it’s against Austria, Croatia and Algeria for two places in the Olympic handball tournament.
On Sunday, Gislason’s seven got up to speed too late to take the direct route to Paris. So it was a bittersweet farewell to this European Championship – in the last game only goalkeeper Andreas Wolff and backcourt player Renars Uscins had reached the necessary level. All the fighting didn’t help, even if the 19,750 fans in Cologne gave the team an enthusiastic farewell – once again poor efficiency in attack had given the Germans more advantage.
“The disappointment is great”
“We are proud of the semi-final, but the disappointment is great. We missed it in the first half today,” said captain Johannes Golla. His realization may also be that there is a gap behind the top nations Denmark, France and Sweden that the Germans were unable to close this time. Behind them are six to eight teams at German level, which means that the fight for fourth place in the semi-finals will tend to remain strong.
Pleasing from a German perspective: players like Uscins have taken a big step towards the regular team, others like Nils Lichtlein have hinted at it. The national coach can trust Andreas Wolff, Johannes Golla, Julian Köster and Juri Knorr. After that it sometimes gets thin, especially compared to the other teams.
They could always rely on their defense and goalkeeper Wolff. But in the last, very important game, both of them were initially of no help. Wolff left the goal after three saves in the 20th minute. His successor David Späth experienced the big difference between a Junior World Cup and a Men’s European Championship – he hardly touched a ball.
What had gotten into the German defense? They offered the Swedes corridors three or four times wide. It’s difficult to say which worked less, at the front or at the back: The Germans were once again in great uncertainty after the opposing goalkeeper bought a few throws from them – Knorr and the others warmed up Andreas Palicka.
Knorr is replaced
There were also bad passes and risky passes to the circle: Sweden moved from 6:4 (11th minute) to 12:7 (22nd) and 18:12. Gislason’s influence on the game was missed, a different defensive formation, a 7:6 game with one more field player. Something that wakes this team up: Compared to the style range of other teams, the German delivery often seems staid.
The obvious thing to do was to replace Knorr. Before the game, he was voted into the “all-star team” as the best playmaker in the tournament, as was goalkeeper Andreas Wolff. Gislason brought him onto the bench after 14 minutes. With Philipp Weber at the headquarters, things became a little more defined. The Germans’ throwing effectiveness was poor against the aggressive Palicka until the break.
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When Gislason moved back to the main seven after the change, Knorr showed what he was made of. Determination and leadership were back, and with goals and courageous passes, the 23-year-old led the Germans back into the game when the score was only 21:24 in the 43rd minute. Gislason’s seven struggled with some whistles from the Montenegrin referees, who were unsuitable for such a game – but even more so with Felix Claar’s class.
Germany had now reached a level appropriate to the occasion and was back on level terms at 29:30 thanks to Uscins (54th minute). The Swedes switched Palicka back to goal, and that helped them win. When Palicka caught Ucins’ throw and the famous Claar threw the 33:30 into the German goal, the game was decided. During the acclaimed lap of honor, you could feel the team’s disappointment at this bad end right up to the roof of the arena.
