Germany’s handball players averted the historic exit after the preliminary round at the European Championships and revived hopes of a medal with a strong performance. National coach Alfred Gíslason’s team kept their nerve in the preliminary round final against Spain and took two plus points into the main round after winning 34:32 (17:15).
In front of 9,526 spectators in Herning, Renars Uscins was the best scorer for the German team with eight goals, which was spared the debacle that loomed after the bitter Serbia defeat a year before the home World Cup. The second phase of the tournament continues on Thursday against either world champion and Olympic champion Denmark or fourth-placed Portugal.
With 4:2 points, the Olympic runner-up in Group A was ahead of the Spaniards with the same points due to the direct comparison won and can still hope for their first European Championship medal since the gold triumph ten years ago at the finals in Denmark, Norway and Sweden.
The success against Spain also secured the national coach’s job for the time being. If he had failed for the first time in the preliminary round, Gíslason, whose contract runs until after the 2027 World Cup, would hardly have been able to stay in his position as national coach. The 66-year-old Icelander can now gather arguments for himself as the tournament progresses.
“I’m relieved and very, very proud of the boys that they were able to win this game. Above all, they were outstanding in attack and defense. We made more of the second wave against the Spaniards, it’s usually their great strength to stop that,” said Gíslason on ZDF about the important success. “We clearly believed that we could advance with a win,” said captain Johannes Golla.
The starting position for the group final against Spain was clear. Because Serbia previously lost against Austria with 25:26, a draw would have been enough for the DHB selection to advance. An advantage for the German team, which would have had to win by three goals if the Serbians had won.
For the decisive duel, Gíslason did without Rune Dahmke and Franz Semper and instead nominated Berlin’s Matthes Langhoff and Nils Lichtlein. From the start it was a competitive and exciting game in which the DHB team was always a small step ahead of the opponent. After 20 minutes, Germany was ahead by three goals for the first time at 12:9.
Experienced goalkeeper Wolff played a major role in this with some spectacular saves that caused the numerous German fans to cheer. The German team also acted much more efficiently in attack than in the previous games against Austria (30:27) and Serbia (27:30). Backcourt ace Uscins in particular was difficult for the Spaniards to deal with.
On the German side, David Späth replaced Wolff between the posts after 40 minutes, but despite a few saves, he didn’t become an X-factor. Ten minutes before the end, Germany was still ahead by three goals at 28:25, after which the Germans secured their valuable victory – and had goalkeeper Wolff rave about a “super team performance”.
Meanwhile, defending champion France finished the preliminary round with a clean slate and also took two points into the main round. The team led by the star and future Berlin Bundesliga professional Dika Mem won the “final” in Oslo with co-hosts Norway, who had previously won twice, for victory in Group C with 38:34 (20:17).
Like the Équipe Tricolore and Norway, the German team’s other main round opponents, World Cup runners-up Croatia and former world champion Sweden also secured early entry into the main round in Group E. Croatia celebrated their second success in Malmö against the Netherlands with 35:29 (15:13) in the second preliminary round game, as did co-host Sweden with a 38:29 (20:15) against Georgia.
On Wednesday, Croatians and Swedes will only play to see how many points they will have in their accounts before the start of the main round. For Oranje and the Georgians, the preliminary round finish only has statistical significance. The Czech Republic and Ukraine in France and Norway’s group have to pack their bags, as they finished the tournament without a sense of success after a 29:38 (14:17) in the duel between the failed teams.
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