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Page 1 — Whistles only for the Chancellor
Page 2 — How good are they really?
There were no tractors in front of the Berlin Arena. And yet Olaf Scholz experienced the same welcome that he knows quite well from the past few days. When the stadium announcer mentioned his name and welcomed the Chancellor to the game, a chorus of whistles swelled in the Berlin Arena. That was quite remarkable, after all the atmosphere had been great up until then and only got better afterwards. But there was also something nice about it for the Chancellor: he was finally able to be there when something happened harmoniously.
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The German handball team also brings a lot of joy to people in Berlin. After the euphoric opening win against Switzerland in Düsseldorf, the next clear victory followed: the final score was 34:25 against North Macedonia. The move into the main round has already been achieved before the last group game and the first obligation at this home European Championship has been fulfilled.
German handball fans have been enjoying the changing main characters of their team at this tournament so far. Against Switzerland it was goalkeeper Andreas Wolff who took away the opponent’s courage. This time he only managed one save, so he made way for his young partner after just 23 minutes. Germany is also blessed with several top-class goalkeepers when it comes to handball. One of them is David Späth, one of the four junior world champions from last summer. He was there immediately. He saved the first ball, five more were to follow. No other player on this team uses the celebration of their own saves so much to encourage themselves. His jumps and gestures towards the stands always woke up the sometimes quiet Berlin audience.
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Handball players value the fact that success in their sport is always a common cause for all team members. But another truth emerges in the mixed zone. Whoever stays there the longest was particularly important. Späth was the second to last. Only playmaker Juri Knorr had more questions to answer, as he scored ten goals and added seven more in less than thirty-five minutes on the field. He pushed the trophy for the best player of the evening in a small white cardboard box from bunch of journalists to bunch of journalists. After all, Franz Beckenbauer already knew that Knorr made the difference.
Spectacular Kempa trick
The 23-year-old filleted the North Macedonian defense. Again and again he found his circle runners with nice passes. Julian Köster even managed the spectacular Kempa trick once. Twice he pushed a pass through the legs of a North Macedonian and he also had a no-look pass ready. And when he started himself, he couldn’t be stopped by just one defender. Both the Swiss and North Macedonians failed to defend it.
Why was revealed in a scene shortly before the break. He accelerated from a standing start with three incredibly fast steps, turned in a flash past the defender and the only thing left was to hang on to Knorr at the back. Knorr sank the seven-meter penalty himself, just like all four of the other penalty throws. And once he caught a ball at the back and threw it into the empty goal to make it 13:7, which elicited praise from the national coach after the game, saying that Knorr is now “getting better and better in defense too.”
There were no tractors in front of the Berlin Arena. And yet Olaf Scholz experienced the same welcome that he knows quite well from the past few days. When the stadium announcer mentioned his name and welcomed the Chancellor to the game, a chorus of whistles swelled in the Berlin Arena. That was quite remarkable, after all the atmosphere had been great up until then and only got better afterwards. But there was also something nice about it for the Chancellor: he was finally able to be there when something happened harmoniously.
The German handball team also brings a lot of joy to people in Berlin. After the euphoric opening win against Switzerland in Düsseldorf, the next clear victory followed: the final score was 34:25 against North Macedonia. The move into the main round has already been achieved before the last group game and the first obligation at this home European Championship has been fulfilled.
