Juri Knorr played his 50th international match against Austria – it was one of his worst. Photo: dpa/Federico Gambarini
The attack performance is dismal. Nevertheless, the German handball players managed to catch up with a score of 22:22 in their second European Championship main round game against Austria. We assessed the players used by national coach Alfred Gislason with individual criticism.
With an energetic performance, the selection of the German Handball Federation (DHB), which was totally unsettled for a long time, saved a 22:22 (11:12) draw against the still undefeated Austrian surprise team. Coach Alfred Gislason’s erratic team had a completely wasted day in attack, made technical errors and wasted chances against the outstanding Austrian keeper Constantin Möstl. The only positive aspect: the tireless fighting spirit after the 16:21 deficit.
With now 3:3 points, the chances of reaching the semi-finals have decreased, the Alpine handball players from the neighboring country have 4:2 points. The best throwers for national coach Alfred Gislason’s team were Juri Knor (6) and Timo Kastening (4/1) in front of 19,750 spectators in the sold-out Lanxess Arena.
There are still two main round games on the program for the German team. On Monday (8:30 p.m./ZDF) against Hungary (4:2 points) and on Wednesday (8:30 p.m./ARD) against Croatia (1:5 points). The leader is France (6:0 points). Only the top two in each group of six will reach the semi-finals, which will take place on January 26th. The final will take place on January 28th.
We evaluated the players from the German national team who played against Austria in an individual review. You can read about them in the photo gallery.