The German team is fighting for gold at the European Handball Championships! In Herning, coach Alfred Gislason’s team showed a convincing performance in all parts of the team on Friday and is in the final against Denmark or Iceland after the 31:28 (17:15) win against Croatia.
Germany showed a performance worthy of a title over long stretches and impressed collectively. Nine players scored against the runner-up world champions and put Germany on the road to victory at the beginning of the second half. “It’s a phenomenal performance from everyone,” said national coach Alfred Gislason at the ARD microphone after the end of the game. “We could have won by more, but in the end I’m extremely proud that they pulled it off.”
The defense in particular stood out with three steals and six blocks, followed by Andreas Wolff, who clearly won the goalkeeper duel (13 saves) and was named player of the game. “We had a strong start to the second half, where everything really worked and everyone performed,” said captain Johannes Golla. “It’s still tight and shaky at the back, but we stayed calm and there were a few players who took responsibility.”
Julian Köster (3 goals and 5 assists) and Knorr (4/6) stood out from a strong German team structure, the latter being the key player in the offensive. For the Croatians, top performer Ivan Martinovic started the game with a torn ligament, but still showed a good performance with five goals from eleven attempts. The left-hander did not receive enough support from the injured Svonimir Srna in his absence; only Tin Lucin (6) reached normal form. Croatia will play for bronze on Sunday afternoon.
Substitute Fischer with important goals from the circle
The first half was balanced and fast-paced. While the Croatians, with their aggressive 5:1 defense, tried to get bad passes and rush into the opponent’s attack early on, Germany relied on the tried and tested 6:0 variant. And both formations were strong from the start, with the difference being that Wolff started the game better.
Left-hander Ivan Martinovic was an asset in the Croatian attack
Lucin failed in the first attack against Kiel and Mario Sostaric from the seven-meter point in the 12th minute. At that point it was 7:6 for Germany, five players had already scored, and Martinovic was the sole entertainer for Croatia. The left-hander scored five of his nine attempts before the break and punished the occasional passiveness of the German middle block.
Germany comes out of the break with a 5-1 run
Otherwise, the German team was wide awake and rewarded itself against the Croatian seven-on-six with three hits on the empty goal (12:12). The DHB team also switched gears faster against Croatia, with Knorr’s throw from the post the middle man fought back to the left wing and served the free Justus Fischer at the circle to make it 14:13 (24th). We went into the break with a two-goal lead because the strong Wolff (eight saves) narrowly missed the Croatian goal.
Johannes Golla (33rd) increased the lead after the break with a fast counterattack to 19:16. The Croatians now found it difficult, especially in attack, against a hot German defense in which Fischer did an outstanding job with four blocks. Martinovic and Co. failed to score for seven minutes and when Knorr made it 22:16 (38th), Sigurdsson was forced to take his second timeout.
Trembled briefly, then clarified
The Croatian handball players tried changing the goalkeeper after the break, but Matej Mandic couldn’t prevent Golla from scoring to take the lead again by seven goals (41′). And Wolff? He saved his second seven-meter penalty, this time against Filip Glavas. The 34-year-old was also there to counter the right-wing counter-attack, and Rune Dahmke then fought for the rebound just as spectacularly.
In the last ten minutes, the German team had some problems converting their chances. Goalkeeper Dominik Kuzmanovic was able to excel several times, but a few technical errors also crept into the hitherto flawless attack. As a result, Croatia had reached 29:25 in the 56th minute, and Lucin even scored a seven-meter penalty to reduce the deficit to three goals. But that evening in Herning, the German team was simply too ripped off and ready for the title: Zerbe kept his nerve from the seven-meter penalty to make it 30:26 (58th), Renars Uscins put the lid on it from the backcourt (60th).
The final opponent will be determined between Denmark and Iceland on Friday evening. “We don’t have to hide from any team,” said Zerbe. “The way we defended today, we could beat any team.”
