The German handball players are in the final of the European Championship. Who convinced, who fell away? The scores for the semi-final victory over Croatia.
Nils Kögler reports from Herning
Germany’s handball players are reaching for European Championship gold. The team of national coach Alfred Gislason prevailed in the semi-finals against fearful opponents Croatia with 31:28 (17:15) and secured their first medal at a European Championship since the title in 2016.
In front of 15,000 spectators in Herning, Denmark, Lukas Zerbe from Kiel was the DHB team’s best thrower with six goals. After Andreas Wolff’s eight saves before the break, Gislason saw no reason for a change in goal. Thanks to a strong defensive performance, Germany pulled ahead to 20:16. And suddenly everything worked for the DHB squad. Circulator Justus Fischer in particular stood out with three blocks within a few seconds.
Wolff initially made up for his own ball losses in the attacking game with his strong saves. Playmaker Juri Knorr posed a lot of goal threat in the first half, but was too playful at times.
In the final phase, a few mistakes crept into the German game again, but the DHB selection could not miss the victory. “I’m extremely proud of the boys for getting through this group of death and now being in the final. That’s a phenomenal achievement from everyone,” said Gislason on ARD.
You can read which German stars were particularly convincing and which ones fell a bit short in the photo show above or here.
In the final on Sunday (6 p.m. in the t-online live ticker), the Olympic silver medalist will face either the Danish high-flyers around world handball player Mathias Gidsel or the outsider Iceland. The German team already had to compete against Denmark in the main round and lost 26:31 a few days ago.
