Germany wins the start of the European Handball Championships against Austria. It’s a must-win with important insights. The defense in particular has improved greatly. And the national coach can finally look forward to more alternatives. This factor could become important.
Some of the protagonists had already ensured the appropriate emotional atmosphere before the game. Germany’s world-class goalkeeper Andreas Wolff said that Austrian handball was currently more than ugly to look at. And his counterpart Constantin Möstl countered that the 34-year-old’s words had now motivated everyone in the outsider’s team to the tips of their hair.
Considering the whole situation before the game, the 60 minutes on the field were extremely objective and fair. At the start of the 17th European Handball Championship, Germany defeated the supposedly weakest competitor in preliminary group A with 30:27 (12:8).
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Nothing more than a serious fulfillment of duty, because the far more groundbreaking tasks still await the Germans: The duel with Serbia is on Saturday (8.30 p.m.), followed two days later by the clash with Spain. In the possible main round that follows, there will probably be encounters against the current top team in international men’s handball – Denmark -, Portugal, Norway and defending champion France.
In this respect, the game on Thursday evening in Herning, Denmark against Austria was just a stopover on the way to winning a medal in these continental title fights as hoped by the German Handball Association – but one with important insights.
Kiesler celebrates a strong European Championship debut
Because Germany is completely prepared to defend itself. National coach Alfred Gislason can finally offer alternatives to the inner block with captain Johannes Golla and Julian Köster, which has already been tried and tested in many previous major tournaments, without any loss of quality. European Championship debutant Tom Kiesler did extremely well alongside Golla in only his fifth international match.
The old motto that the offense wins games but the defense wins titles filled Germany with life at the start of the showdown. Given the game plan with games every two days, it is extremely important for Gislason and his team to change things up a lot and distribute the time on the pitch well.
This was also more than appealing in attack. The actual half-left Köster took on the role of playmaker here, as he did during the preparation phase, and is a more than valuable alternative to the actual director of the Germans: Juri Knorr.
The man, who is the only professional from the German squad to work at Aalborg HB in the co-host country Denmark, often seemed outplayed in the national team after the sensational silver medal win at the 2024 Olympic Games. If the entire burden of attack control no longer lies with Knorr, this is an important development step for the team, which is still quite young with an average age of 26.1 years. In the first half, Knorr only came into the game after 22 minutes, in the second after 37.
The extent to which the positive personnel findings will further inspire the German team is an exciting question surrounding the promising start. At least the start raises hopes that the best ball throwers in the country will once again be in the focus of the sports-interested public.
German handball players regularly achieve attractive TV ratings at major tournaments in January of each year. But after that, interest often disappears again and becomes a regional phenomenon in Kiel, Flensburg or Magdeburg. In the year before the home World Cup, attractive performances like the one on Thursday are essential for the image of the second most popular German team sport.
Jens Bierschwale reports for WELT from on site about the European Handball Championships.
