Denmark European Championship winners
Final lost: German handball players win silver at the European Championships
The German handball players cannot be crowned European champions for a third time after 2004 and 2016. As was the case at the Olympics, Denmark is too strong in the final.
Fought, hoped and ultimately lost: Germany’s handball players were unable to fulfill their dream of winning gold at the European Championships despite a strong performance. In the “Hell of Herning”, national coach Alfred Gislason’s team lost the final against world champions and Olympic champions Denmark with 27:34 (16:18).
This meant that the DHB selection was unable to become European Championship champions for the third time after 2004 and 2016 and had to settle for silver.
In front of 15,000 spectators, including Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU), Johannes Golla, Juri Knorr and Marko Grgic were the best throwers with five goals each for the German team, which missed successful revenge for the clear 26:39 defeat in the 2024 Olympic final.
Looking forward to the home handball World Cup
The European Championship silver is nevertheless evidence of the upswing in German handball and should fuel the anticipation for the home World Cup in January 2027 even more. The DHB selection will wait exactly 20 years for a world championship title.
A heated and competitive game developed from the start, with the German team trailing by three goals at 7:10 after a quarter of an hour. At this point the game was already over for Tom Kiesler. The defense specialist, who reported fit for the final after a gastrointestinal illness, was shown a red card early on after a foul on Gidsel.
After the change, the wild chase continued. The DHB selection quickly equalized, but it immediately slipped out of their hands because they remained without a goal for around six minutes. Luckily, Wolff got stronger and stronger and initially prevented the team from falling further behind with a few brilliant saves.
Because his teammates were hardly able to do anything in attack during this phase, Denmark still managed to score four goals for the first time in the middle of the second half at 26:22. The preliminary decision, especially since pivot Jannik Kohlbacher also saw the red card in the final phase. The German team never gave up until the end, but they couldn’t turn things around.
DPA
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