Five points ahead
Coach Antonio Di Salvo’s side are now leaders in their qualifying group and have a five-point lead over closest pursuers Israel.
The group winners and the best runner-up from nine groups are directly qualified for the continental title fights. The other runners-up play in playoffs four more participants.
The EM will be held in Romania and Georgia from June 9th to July 2nd, 2023. The two hosts are automatically qualified for the tournament.
Burkardt is out at short notice
The German team was committed in the top duel against Israel, but in the game going forward they lacked pace and ideas for a long time. In the middle of the Israelis’ best phase, Katterbach scored the hard-fought victory.
Di Salvo had to put up with a setback even before the kick-off: Mainz’s Jonathan Burkardt, who had been so strong recently, was out for a short time because he injured himself while warming up. Jan Thielmann from Cologne took his place in the starting eleven. Despite the setback, the guests started concentrated and initially had more ball possession and, above all, the better chances to score from standard situations. But Israel always remained dangerous with their fast switching game. The hard-fought duel hardly offered any clear chances to score in the first half.