The German handball players escaped with a black eye. After a very weak performance, the DHB seven drew 22:22 (11:12) against the surprise team from Austria.
The semi-finals are now a long way off for the Germans, but Austria has the best chance of making it to the last four at this European Championship.
Germany went into this second main round game as big favorites and had the support of almost 20,000 – it wasn’t enough.
“We are all a bit shocked,” said ARD expert Johannes Bitter immediately after the final whistle.
Main round, 2nd matchday arrow right
Knorr initially on the bench
Alfred Gislason decided to make a personnel change in his initial situation. The Icelander initially left his playmaker and top goalscorer Juri Knorr out, also because he wasn’t fully fit.
But nothing had changed in the initial situation. The pressure was on the Germans, who couldn’t afford a defeat in the main round in order to keep their dream of reaching the semi-finals alive. But the DHB team couldn’t cope with this pressure situation at all.
Weber doesn’t take advantage of the opportunity, Wolff is strong again
The introduction of Philipp Weber for Juri Knorr brought no profit. The backcourt player from SC Magdeburg had three or four unfortunate situations right from the start and he didn’t manage to score a goal. Gislason changed his tactics in the 12th minute and brought on Knorr.
At this point the team already seemed totally unsettled and, especially in attack, all the good spirits had been abandoned. Nothing worked on offense, lots of technical errors, weak passes and shots on goal that didn’t actually deserve this name. Germany played a terrible first half.
Heiner Brand disappointed at the break
Only one man could be relied on again: goalkeeper Andreas Wolff, who, like two days before, kept his team in the game in the same position and didn’t let the Austrians get away. “We have to be very happy that we are only one goal behind at the break,” said former national coach Heiner Brand on ARD after the first 30 minutes, in which the Germans at least turned from a three-goal deficit to one shortly before the half-time bell We were able to shorten the goal (11:12).
Brand, the 2007 world champion coach, particularly criticized the static attacking play of the DHB seven. “You have to prepare the attacks calmly, so everyone comes off the bat. That doesn’t work,” said the Gummersbacher.
Attacking play remained miserable
Would the Germans be able to correct their mistakes in the second half? The Germans at least came out of the break a little more accurate. The problem: the Austrians also completed their attacks better. Because Knorr, Köster and Co. continued to make mistakes, Team Austria pulled away to within three goals – 18:15 (42nd).
Gislason tried to adjust, rotated on offense and took the next time out to sort things out. “Hey, we can do it, in peace, in peace,” the players encouraged each other during the team-out. Without success. Emotion remained on the part of the Austrians, who celebrated their goals frenetically, sprinkled in Kempa tricks and had long since given up respect for the hall with its almost 20,000 fans.
Bitter: “Don’t get widespread”
More speed would have been necessary in the German game, the support from the hall was there – but the German team didn’t wake up. “We don’t get wide and then come under pressure to take bad throws from the backcourt. The Austrians do better,” said the ARD expert halfway through the second half, when the deficit had grown to five goals (16:21).
Hope arose again when Golla reduced the score to 21:22 (52′). The hall was now back in crunch time. Austria was unlucky several times when throwing shots at the post. The Germans had the chance to equalize at 21:22.