Maybe it’s best put this way – fortunately for the German national handball team, there wasn’t so much at stake anymore. In the 24:30 draw against Croatia, the DHB selection failed in the last game of the main round due to opposing goalkeeper Dominik Kuzmanovic and left a weak impression before the semi-final on Friday evening (8.30 p.m. in the FAZ live ticker for the European Handball Championship, on ARD and on Dyn). against Denmark.
National coach Alfred Gislason rotated almost the entire bench into the game, but despaired of how his players – no matter who – missed the best chances. Kuzmanovic fended off 22 throws. A malaise that accompanies the German team throughout the entire tournament.
A lot happened in the subjunctive that strange evening. It would certainly have been difficult if we had reached the semi-finals against Croatia. Because the Croatians performed as if their weak main round didn’t even exist. They pulled away to 13:10 (25th minute). Gislason started with his starting seven, but it didn’t seem convincing – his players failed too often because of Kuzmanovic.
Gislason gradually changed, bringing Philipp Weber in the middle, Renars Uscins in the backcourt, Justus Fischer in the circle. Thanks mainly to Sebastian Heymann, the Germans now had more momentum and power in the game and led 14:13 at the break.
“Didn’t show a good mentality”
Juri Knorr, Johannes Golla and Julian Köster were able to relax there. After the change, even playmaker Nils Lichtlein was allowed to take part – the Berliner had previously played no role at all. The underground yield deprived Gislason’s seven of a more pleasant evening, as the number of free attempts should have resulted in more than this result. At least Jannik Kohlbacher made it 18:18 in the 44th minute.
At 19:25 the painful defeat took shape. Gislason moved back, but even the established players couldn’t turn things around. “Maybe we switched off before the game,” said Knorr, “we didn’t show a good mentality. We can’t play like that again. But you also have to see that we have achieved the greatest success in recent years.”
With friendly help from Iceland and France: It was already clear on Wednesday evening at 7:24 p.m. that the Germans would reach the final and best four. In a game that seemed strangely lacking in emotion, France headed towards a certain victory even without the last bit of determination in defense; Hungary was only two goals behind until the middle of the second and was actually “in”.
But the French scored at will at will – there wasn’t much resistance. Did Hungary not believe in its chance? Had the long tournament taken too much energy? In any case, France strolled to this 35:32 victory, which allows them to reach the semi-finals undefeated – on Friday evening (5.45 p.m. in the FAZ live ticker for the European Handball Championship, on ARD and on Dyn) they continue against Sweden, the runner-up the Hamburg main round group.
Germany plays against world champions Denmark. Even in the event of a defeat, the further course of events remains significant, because the third place in this European Championship qualifies for the Olympic handball tournament, the fourth place has to go to an eligibility tournament in mid-March.
The Germans also secured their ticket to the next World Cup in January 2024 in Denmark, Norway and Croatia by finishing at least fourth in this European Championship. And another bonus: the DHB selection can also plan for the European Championships in two years. Important planning security for the entire association.
Published/Updated: Published/Updated: Christian Kamp, Cologne Published/Updated: Recommendations: 2
But now no one else can help – and above all, the Germans need better results than they did against Croatia on Wednesday. Denmark, that is the toughest place in world handball, with two or three strong players everywhere, confidently coached by coach Nikolaj Jacobsen, self-confident, eager to play, with many variations up their sleeves.
Niklas Landin, Mikkel Hansen, Mathias Gidsel, Simon Pytlick: A star selection awaits the Germans, well balanced between young and old. However, this red and white mixture has been relatively unsuccessful at the last two continental championships – four years ago it was eliminated in the preliminary round and in 2022 it came third.
The Danes arrived by train from Hamburg on Tuesday – in time for the next train drivers’ strike. Working with Deutsche Bahn as a mobility partner must seem like a bad joke to the DHB. On the electronic boards, however, the ICE raced through the arena and advertised savings prices. At least the DHB train is still rolling – even if this performance on Wednesday evening ended in a heavy defeat, which significantly dampened the mood.