Dress rehearsal successful
In European Championship form: Wolff leads handball players to victory against Croatia
Four days before the European Championship opener against Austria, Germany’s handball players are testing against their feared opponents. After a medal-worthy first half, Andreas Wolff in particular continues to be in top form.
With thunderous applause and lots of black, red and gold flags, the enthusiastic spectators in Hanover said goodbye to their handball hopefuls for the European Championships in Denmark. The DHB team won the dress rehearsal against feared opponents Croatia with 33:27 (16:12) and confirmed Thursday’s victory in Zagreb. Led by the outstanding goalkeeper Andreas Wolff, national coach Alfred Gislason’s selection gave the fans hope for a medal despite the difficult draw.
In front of 10,427 spectators, Lukas Zerbe and Renars Uscins were the best German throwers with five goals each against the team of former national coach Dagur Sigurdsson. Wolff played the biggest role in the victory with 20 saves and one goal. The veteran saved a seven-meter penalty twice.
Strong defense, outstanding goalkeepers
“We played a very good game, especially defensively,” said Wolff on ARD. Gislason underlined this: “We did particularly well in defense in both games. We had outstanding goalkeeper performances in both games,” explained the national coach.
Backcourt player Julian Köster spoke of a very important victory in order to get a good feeling in the final test. “We managed that well,” said Köster. He praised the team’s character: “There were always phases when we fought our way out well, and we can take that with us.”
When will the DHB team travel to the EM quarters?
After a media day on Monday, the DHB entourage will travel to their EM quarters in Silkeborg in Denmark, which they already knew from last year, on Tuesday. On Thursday, the Olympic silver medalist starts the tournament against Austria in Herning, around 30 minutes away. The preliminary round games against Serbia and Spain then take place every two days.
Only the two best-placed teams in each preliminary group reach the second phase of the tournament, the main round. There Germany would probably meet Olympic champions Denmark, defending champions France as well as fourth-placed World Cup winners Portugal and Norway. Given this difficult draw, Gislason spoke of the most difficult tournament of his coaching career.
Germany can rely on defense
As with the 32:29 defeat in Zagreb, Germany could rely on its goalkeepers. Andreas Wolff, who replaced David Späth in the starting line-up, demonstrated his world class early on with ten saves before the break. The DHB keeper was also helped by his inside block around Tom Kiesler. Together with pivot Justus Fischer, the DHB newcomer repeatedly provoked the Croatians to lose the ball and ensured that the home team led by four goals (13:9) for the first time five minutes before the break.
Gislason appeared unusually satisfied on the sidelines and repeatedly acknowledged his charges’ moves with applause or a thumbs up. In attack, left winger Lukas Mertens in particular did a lot of self-promotion for more playing time. “We’re doing well at the front. We’re calm,” said the Magdeburger at half-time.
Like in Zagreb: Germany collapses for a short time
As on Thursday, Germany completely missed the start of the second half. Within five minutes, Croatia made it 17:17 and Gislason’s expression suddenly darkened. Only when the permanent staff of Juri Knorr, Julian Köster and captain Johannes Golla were on the floor did the error rate decrease.
With a 4-0 run, the hosts made it 24:19 again and brought their lead to the finish. Left winger Rune Dahmke was the only player who did not play in both test matches. Gislason had been criticized in advance for his European Championship nomination at the expense of Berliner Tim Freihöfer.
dpa
