Led by goalkeeper Andreas Wolff, the German handball players got off to a successful start in the main round and significantly improved their chances of reaching the European Championship semi-finals. Despite many mistakes, national coach Alfred Gíslason’s selection beat Portugal 32:30 (11:11) and took revenge for the bitter defeat in the World Cup quarter-finals a year ago. At that time, the DHB team only lost a dramatic game after extra time.
In front of 6,145 spectators, European Championship newcomer Miro Schluroff, who only arrived after the break, was the best DHB thrower with seven goals. Wolff made over ten saves. In the group of six, Germany now has a promising four points. The top two finishers reach the semi-finals.
In the fight for the semi-finals, more “Hitchcock classics” await the German team every two days, as team manager Benjamin Chatton called the “group of death”. On Saturday (8:30 p.m. in the FAZ live ticker for the European Handball Championship, on ZDF and on DYN) it is against Norway, on Monday (8:30 p.m. in the FAZ live ticker for the European Handball Championship, on ARD and on DYN) against Olympic champion Denmark and on Wednesday (6:00 p.m. in the FAZ live ticker for the European Handball Championship, on ZDF and on DYN) against defending champion France.
“This game only thrives on our mistakes. Please just play our normal game,” pleaded Gíslason during an early timeout and substituted. Nils Lichtlein took on the role of seven-meter taker and director, but was often inaccurate in his passes. Germany was lucky that Portugal was also far away from their top form, missed big chances and didn’t score from the 19th to 28th minutes.
In particular, the Portuguese brother duo Francisco and Martim Costa had been well under control until then. The draw at the break was fair after a game full of errors. “The result is still pretty good,” said pivot Justus Fischer on the ARD microphone, given the long chain of errors in his own game at the unusually early throw-off time.
After the restart, Schluroff should do the trick with his high-speed throws from the backcourt. With his third goal, the Gummersbach player gave his team a 16:15 lead. It was the 25-year-old’s individual actions that stood out. Collectively, Germany continued to act incorrectly.
Gislason raged on the sidelines. The Icelander was not satisfied with his own game or with the referee’s performance. The fact that Germany still led 23:22 ten minutes before the end of the game was due to Wolff’s world-class saves. The 34-year-old held on to victory until the end. The red card for captain Johannes Golla didn’t change that.
