Handball frustration in the German team
“The evaluation of chances was cruel. It was a disastrous game.”
Status: 20.01.2024 | Reading time: 4 minutes
Pure frustration for national coach Alfred Gislason
Those: dpa/Federico Gambarini
The German national team just managed to avoid an embarrassment in the prestigious duel against Austria. The team has to tremble on its way to the semi-finals of this European Handball Championship. The German game was characterized by hair-raising mistakes, particularly in attack.
After the next setback at the home European Championships, Germany’s handball players stood on the floor with stony faces and seemed to be in a state of shock. National coach Alfred Gislason’s team couldn’t score more than 22:22 (11:12) in the prestigious duel against Austria on Saturday evening and has to worry about making it to the semi-finals. The team no longer has it in their own hands. In front of 19,750 fans, Juri Knorr, in his 50th appearance in the DHB jersey, was the best thrower of the German team with six goals, which acted erratically and incorrectly. “The evaluation of chances was cruel. It was a disastrous game in attack. We lost the point there. We had 23 missed throws, mostly free-standing in front of the goalkeeper, plus eleven technical errors. Simply cruel. In certain positions we had no danger at all, especially on our right side,” criticized national coach Gislason.
With 3:3 points, the DHB team only takes fourth place in Group I. Behind Olympic champion France (6:0), who beat Iceland 39:32, are Austria and Hungary (4:2 each). The Magyars, the next opponent of the DHB selection on Monday, defeated Croatia 29:26. “We have to be happy to have even picked up a point. It’s a very humbling feeling after a game like that,” said Germany backcourt player Julian Köster. The first two in the group reach the semi-finals. “Of course we have to talk about what happened today, because we won’t achieve anything in the tournament like that,” said captain Johannes Golla
Under the eyes of almost all of the 1978 world champions around jubilee Joachim Deckarm, to whom the spectators gave a special serenade before kick-off one day after his 70th birthday, the previously convincing director Knorr initially just sat on the bench. “He was a little ill before the last game,” said Gislason, explaining the move.
Germany’s players despaired of Austria’s goalkeeper
Philipp Weber from Champions League winner SC Magdeburg moved into the starting line-up for Knorr. But without their top playmaker from cup winners Rhein-Neckar Löwen, the DHB selection struggled from the start. Luckily, goalkeeper Andreas Wolff was immediately up to speed in his 150th international match, as was the case in the 26:24 shaky win against Iceland. With his saves, the 32-year-old ensured that the Austrians were initially unable to pull away despite the proliferation of opportunities and numerous technical errors by the DHB team.
But Constantin Möstl in the Austrian goal was also in top form and caused the German players to despair. In the middle of the first half, the European Championship hosts were down by two goals at 4:6 – and Gislason sent Knorr to the floor. “A defeat against Austria – and the dream of the semi-finals would be over,” the national coach warned before the game and predicted a difficult task. He was proven right, because the outsider played carefree and extended the lead to four goals for the first time at 10:6.
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Only in the final phase of the first half did the German team act a little more consistently in attack, in which Knorr played a part. The deficit was only one goal after the first 30 minutes. “We have to finish more confidently,” demanded DHB sports director Axel Kromer during the half-time break. Heiner Brand became even clearer on ARD. “What we showed in attack is actually not possible. “That was so bad,” criticized the 2007 world champion coach.
But the error festival continued after the change. The German players repeatedly failed because of Austria’s goalkeeper Möstl, but they didn’t make things too difficult for him with many unplaced throws. In the middle of the second half, Gislason’s protégés were once again four goals behind at 16:20. Driven by the audience, Knorr and Co. fought their way back in the final phase and actually managed to equalize.
“We failed because of our shots, especially in the first half. We warmed up the goalkeeper from the first second. It was a small setback,” said Germany backcourt player Sebastian Heymann.
