Led by goalkeeper Katharina Filter, the German handball players have made the World Cup sensation perfect and are playing for their first gold medal since 1993 after their fantastic semi-final victory over defending champions France.
National coach Markus Gaugisch’s selection defeated their feared opponents in Rotterdam with 29:23 (15:12) and impressively took revenge for the defeat in the 2024 Olympic quarter-finals.
Even before the final on Sunday against Olympic champions Norway or co-hosts Netherlands, the DHB women have secured their first World Cup medal since bronze in 2007. A sporty winter fairy tale that perhaps even takes on golden contours in this form.
In front of a manageable World Cup crowd of around 5,000 spectators, captain Antje Döll was the best German thrower with nine goals.
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Video: Handball fairy tale: DHB women storm into the final
“Hats off to the girls,” said Gaugisch at the ARD microphone: “You can see how cool they are and how confident they are in their strength: the defense. The whole week has been fantastic, you can’t get out of this feeling.” Viola Leuchter explained completely detachedly: “I can’t take it anymore. It was 60 minutes of pure struggle.” Before the game, she would have “flip the bird” at this outcome.
For the DHB team it was the first competitive win against the Équipe Tricolore in two decades. Exactly 20 years ago to the day, Germany last won against the French at the World Cup in St. Petersburg.
Faith in the final was “abnormally high”
Even though the roles were clearly assigned before kick-off, the belief in a German victory was “abnormally high,” as backcourt player Emily Vogel emphasized. The outstanding defense, a strong Katharina Filter in goal and an unusual callousness in attack had not only awakened quiet medal dreams in the DHB squad. “The greed has grown,” reported national coach Markus Gaugisch before kick-off.
For the DHB, the World Cup miracle is not just a sporting success. The performances in front of more than 10,500 fans in Dortmund and millions of TV viewers are intended to sustainably promote the development of women’s handball and further increase its visibility.
Lightning start for Germany
If Germany continues to play like it did in the early stages in the future, many new fans are likely to be added. Captain Antje Döll scored five times in the first half alone, Filter even saved a seven-meter penalty and Vogel and Viola Leuchter slammed the balls into the goal from the backcourt at over 80 kilometers per hour. Even when the German team lost their four-goal lead due to some technical errors, the team didn’t collapse.
France’s world-class goalkeeper Hatadou Sako was initially not a factor at all. The hundreds of German fans who had traveled could hardly believe their eyes when they saw their team off at the break with a three-goal lead. “My heart is jumping, I’m thrilled,” said team manager Anja Althaus, summing up the mood on the ARD microphone.
Grandmaster France looked stricken. Less than six minutes had been played in the second half when coach Sebastien Gardillou took a timeout. The German fans celebrated with “Katharina Filter” chants. The French became more and more restless and acted more and more harshly – Onacia Ondono was shown the red card after a rude foul on Nieke Kühne.
A quarter of an hour before the end of the game, the World Cup miracle became more and more real with the score at 22:18, especially since Filter continued to be a strong support for the DHB selection, which was convincing in terms of combat and play. Seven minutes before the end, Germany had even gained a five-goal cushion at 25:20.
The clock was ticking for the German team, who now played out their attacks for a long time. However, France didn’t give up and reduced the score to three goals two and a half minutes before the end. But then Leuchter moved to the circle and her goal sparked celebrations on the German bench.