The German team narrowly lost the second preliminary round game of the European Handball Championship with 27:30 (17:13). The Gislason team led until the final quarter of an hour, but failed too often due to Serbia’s Dejan Milosavljev and their own nerves.
Due to the surprising defeat, the German team is already under a lot of pressure before the final game against Spain and needs a win to avert the early exit from the European Championship.
The national coach surprised with a mixed starting seven, in which Rune Dahmke, David Späth and Juri Knorr rotated. And the director of Aalborg Handbold took advantage of his “chance” brilliantly: four goals and an assist in the first quarter of an hour. The 25-year-old was the linchpin of the German attack. Unlike against Austria, this time the DHB team tried to consistently play at a fast pace thanks to their once again stable defense.
DHB team often fails at the beginning because of Milosavljev
With success, because Germany scored four of the first five goals from a fast counterattack (5:4). Milosavljev’s outstanding start didn’t change anything, the Füchse Berlin goalkeeper parried his seventh ball when the score was 9:8 (16th). But because Späth also improved and Franz Semper shone from the bench with three quick goals, Germany was able to pull away to 11:8 (18th).
Played a strong first half against Serbia: goalkeeper David Späth
But Serbia didn’t let themselves be shaken off and continued to meticulously adhere to coach Raul Gonzalez’s tactical instructions of playing long attacks and looking for a finish through the circle. But the German team can do that too, thought Knorr and served Johannes Golla with a remarkable “no-look” pass to make it 12:10 (22nd). Then a few technical uncertainties crept into the DHB game and the national coach brought Schluroff on for the final phase of the first half.
Serbia got off to a better start after the break
A clever move, because the Gummersbacher hit all four of his attempts and even amazed ARD expert Johannes Bitter with a throw speed of almost 134.1 km/h. It took a total of four minutes for Germany to score for the first time after the break, Renars Uscins redeeming the many German fans in Herning (18:16). But otherwise the first ten minutes belonged to the Serbs, who put up a much better defense and didn’t give Späth a chance to score.
In the 42nd minute, Vukasin Vorkapic was able to equalize for the first time since 8:8 (15th), but the Serbs only took the lead later. That was due to substitute Andreas Wolff, who parried Vanja Ilic’s penalty throw in the 46th minute, but was powerless when Lazar Kukic made it 22:21. There was a particular problem in the attack; the German team didn’t score a goal for a total of six minutes. The birthday boy ended this phase from the seven-meter point: Lukas Zerbe to make it 22:23.
German handball player loses his head in hectic final phase
The 2016 European champion showed his class in the last ten minutes. Uscins and Schluroff turned the game around within a few minutes and brought the DHB team back into the lead with 24:23 (55th). In an exciting final phase, Germany didn’t always act happily; a time-out taken too early by the national coach prevented Knorr from equalizing again. Instead, Serbia increased to a two-goal lead and narrowly won the game in the end with 30:27.
