The German national handball team’s run at the European Championships continues. In the main round, the team struggled against Norway for a long time, but still won. Goalkeeper Andreas Wolff is the outstanding man and is celebrated accordingly afterwards.
Thanks to a world-class gala from goalkeeper Andreas Wolff, Germany’s handball players remain on track for the semi-finals of the European Championship. National coach Alfred Gislason’s team won against Norway 30:28 (15:17) and leads the table in Group 1 with 6:0 points.
In front of 10,117 spectators in Herning, backcourt player Marko Grgic was the best thrower with seven goals for the Olympic silver medalist, who had previously defeated Spain and Portugal in the finals. On Monday, the German team around the outstanding Wolff, who fended off 22 shots, will face a cracking duel with world champions and Olympic champions Denmark.
“Outstanding. When you have a goalkeeper like that, you can’t lose. It’s out of this world,” enthused Renars Uscins. Such praise came from teammates across the board. “Without Andi we wouldn’t have taken the two points today,” said Tom Kiesler, and national coach Alfred Gislason said: “A phenomenal performance, he saved us.”
Denmark, the team around world handball player Mathias Gidsel from German champions Füchse Berlin, has 4:2 points after a 36:31 win against Spain and France. The defending champion had previously overrun Portugal 46:38 and will be the last opponent of the DHB selection in the second phase of the tournament next Wednesday.
Germany against Norway with a false start
Thanks to the hard-fought victory against Norway led by superstar Sander Sagosen, the German team now has all the trump cards in its hand to fulfill their dream of reaching the semi-finals. But there needs to be a significant increase. Given the tight constellation, an early return home after the main round is still possible.
As was the case recently against Portugal, the DHB team found it extremely difficult to attack. The best chances were missed in rows. There were also some technical errors. Luckily, goalkeeper Andreas Wolff was wide awake from the start. But even the 34-year-old, despite a few brilliant saves, couldn’t prevent Germany from being three goals behind at 2:5 after nine minutes.
The false start prompted the national coach to take an early break, but this initially had no effect, nor did the first personnel changes. The DHB selection slowly fought its way into the game and equalized at 8:8 (17th). At this point, Wolff had already fended off eight throws. We went into the half-time break with a two-goal deficit.
Spectators celebrate Wolff’s outstanding performance
After the change, the festival of mistakes in the German attack initially continued. Only Wolff could be relied on. The 34-year-old repeatedly received applause from the spectators for his sometimes unbelievable rescue efforts and kept the DHB team in the game. He also ended up being named the game’s best player.
Wolff’s performance finally rubbed off on those in front of him midway through the second half. At 26:21 (49th), Germany suddenly led by five goals because backcourt player Grgic also exploited his potential for the first time in the tournament and gave the team additional security with his goals. So the DHB selection was able to celebrate at the end.
The hero himself was less euphoric than his fellow players. They play well defensively, “but we have to step it up, especially in attack,” said goalkeeper Wolff, looking ahead to Monday. The Danes would punish such mistakes more severely: “You can only stand up to the Danes if you are tough in defense and ice cold in front. This is a world-class team that has no weak points. We have to show a completely different face.”
SUF
