analysis
In the end, the German handball players lost the European Championship final a little too clearly, but this tournament was still the next step to becoming the best team in the world. Even the Danes admitted that.
The dominators of world handball ended the final with a 5-0 run. After four World Cup titles in a row and Olympic gold in 2024, Denmark was finally crowned European champion again, for the first time since 2012, and now holds all three major titles at the same time. Mathias Gidsel and Co. increased the result in the European Championship final against Germany late on, the final run turning a 29:27 (55th minute) into a final score of 34:27.
“It was a really tough fight, the result was obviously too high”Gidsel admitted in the Sportschau interview, and emphasized: “The distance to the Germans is getting narrower and narrower for us. I am sure that they will also be our biggest opponent in 2027. I’m really looking forward to the World Cup, I live in Germany, it’s going to be great.”
In fact – as national coach Alfred Gislason put it on ARD – it was a number of little things that ultimately made the difference. For the Germans, Julian Köster in particular got off to an excellent start, while Juri Knorr, who had some teething problems, and Johannes Golla also played their part reliably. But Renars Uscins didn’t spark at all, Marko Grgic only became a factor in the final stages of the first half.
Only three goals from outside positions
In order to really endanger Denmark, even more has to be done at the end: Miro Schluroff had no playing time, Franz Semper only scored one goal, and there was little input from the wingers Lukas Mertens (1) and Lukas Zerbe (2).
Defensively, the German team had to contend with several adversities. Cyclist Justus Fischer woke up with an infection on the morning of the final day and had to cancel the game. After 13 minutes, Tom Kiesler also received a red card, which fit into the overall picture of an unworthy refereeing performance in the final. Kiesler had indeed fouled Gidsel, but he also made the action in the air look particularly spectacular. The hall was raging and the referees caved.
“Even Gidsel whispered: That wasn’t red”
National coach Alfred Gislason argued: “In my opinion it was a two-minute penalty, but not a red card. Even Mathias Gidsel whispered to me that it wasn’t a red card. That cost us a lot.”
The German players also shared this opinion. Although no one explicitly wanted to look for the cause of the defeat in the performance of Ivan Pavicevic and Milos Raznatovic from Montenegro, Marko Grgic, for example, spoke plainly to the Sportschau: “We didn’t get three or four whistles in the attack, the clearest time was when Renars Uscins was completely free and was fouled. But if Gidsel is lying across the air, he gets a seven-meter penalty. So we also look after our own nose, but unfortunately a lot of things didn’t feel right.”
Tighter than in the Olympic final
In the end, the German middle block was decimated even further by the second red card against Jannik Kohlbacher – which was justifiable. In addition, there were ultimately too many ball losses (seven) and the fact that it was almost impossible to get past the second Danish keeper Kevin Möller.
Nevertheless: Germany has taken the next step to becoming the top nation, beating Spain, Portugal, Norway, France and Croatia over the course of the tournament – and compared to the 26:39 defeat in the 2024 Olympic final, the DHB selection has also moved closer to Denmark.
Jacobsen – “You become ours main competitor be”
When the sports show asked the Danish coach Nicolaj Jacobsen about the prospects of the DHB team, the long-time coach of the Rhein-Neckar Löwen literally went into raptures: “Germany have now won silver at the Olympics and silver again here. It was a really tough game, they were close for a long time and had a great keeper in Wolff. They are young, they are a fantastic team and will be our main rivals in the next few years, I’m sure of that. At some point they will break the streak and start winning titles. I hope that will only be after my term in office.”
Germany against Denmark, here it says: To be continued. Maybe at the 2027 World Cup in Germany, where the DHB team will hardly be satisfied with silver.
