Handball European Championship semi-finals in view
“We are ready to leave everything on the field. Bones, blood, sweat and tears”
Status: 22.01.2024 | Reading time: 3 minutes
With a win against Croatia, Germany’s handball players will be in the European Championship semi-finals
Source: AP/Martin Meissner
Germany’s handball players can’t afford any more slip-ups if they want to preserve their chance of reaching the European Championship semi-finals. In the third main round game against Hungary, the team withstood the pressure. Now the final against Croatia awaits.
Germany’s handball players fought their way back into the medal race at the home European Championships with a win against Hungary and opened the door wide open to the semi-finals. National coach Alfred Gíslason’s team won against the Eastern Europeans 35:28 (18:17) on Monday evening and now has progress in their own hands again. In front of 19,750 spectators in the sold-out Lanxess Arena in Cologne, Julian Köster was the best German thrower with eight goals.
“I’m very satisfied. “It was a phenomenal defense for 60 minutes, the boys worked very well,” praised national coach Gíslason on ZDF after the game. “We watched a lot of video, you could see that on the field today,” analyzed Julian Köster, the best German player against Hungary. “We can build on that against Croatia. But this will be just as much of a fight as the previous games.”
With 5:3 points, the DHB selection is in second place ahead of the final game against Croatia on Wednesday behind the already qualified Olympic champions France (8:0). Hungary and Austria (both 4:4) also still have a chance of reaching the semi-finals. The best two teams qualify for the top four round.
Julian Köster was the best German against Hungary
What: REUTERS
With the loss of right winger Timo Kastening due to an infection, the DHB selection had to accept a damper in their mood shortly before kick-off. Christoph Steinert started for him on the wing. “We have to deal with our opportunities much better. “I hope that we can play a more variable attacking game,” said Gíslason.
However, the Icelander couldn’t be completely satisfied with the first few minutes. Although his players didn’t act as statically as before – apart from Köster, who was consistently impressive, the DHB professionals seemed anything but accurate. What was even more worrying was that Germany’s life insurance company Andreas Wolff didn’t come into play at all. The 32-year-old was unable to save any of Hungary’s first six shots.
Späth for Wolff in the goal
After the next goal to make it 7:8, Gíslason put U21 world champion David Späth in the goal. But the emotional young star was initially left behind. After 20 minutes, the keeper was able to celebrate for the first time and, as usual, he celebrated his strong reflexes very emotionally.
The good news from the German perspective was that the team had largely regained its tempo game after misfires against Iceland and Austria. Sebastian Heymann completed two attacks worth seeing, while Rune Dahmke failed miserably. Hungary was always successful from the backcourt.
Both teams acted anything but confidently. Both the Hungarians and the European Championship hosts made hair-raising technical errors at times. DHB sports director Axel Kromer was still satisfied at halftime. “Now we really have the flow of the game and are making great throws from the backcourt. If we continue to attack like this then things will look really good,” said the 47-year-old.
Chance of the semi-finals is alive
Germany came out of the locker room much fresher and gratefully accepted Hungary’s many bad passes. As the DHB team became more and more confident and took the lead with 20:17, the Eastern Europeans took the first time out. At this point, less than four minutes had been played.
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The DHB team was now running hot. Gíslason clenched his fists on the sidelines, playmaker Juri Knorr shook himself awake with blows to the chest and Dahmke heated up the spectators. In the 39th minute, Wolff, who had been disappointing until then, was also able to celebrate his first save.
Around 13 minutes before the end of the game, Germany had a comfortable five-goal lead for the first time (27:22). The DHB team no longer gave up this lead and thus achieved the best possible starting position in the fight for the last semi-final ticket in Group I. “We are ready to leave everything on the field. Bones, blood, sweat and tears,” said Dahmke, summing up the evening.
