Home with applause: Germany’s handball players defied the Corona adversities and made a conciliatory EM farewell. The 13-strong core team of national coach Alfred Gislason defeated Russia in a real thriller thanks to an energetic performance in the fourth main round game 30:29 (16:12) and showed a lot of character at the end of a crazy tournament.
“It’s a good feeling to say goodbye like this,” said captain Johannes Golla on “ARD”: “We want to play brave handball and inspire the spectators, today it worked.”
The end of the European Championship is still bitter, “Of course we would have liked to play two more games, but it was also exhausting for body and mind because of the many uncertainties. In that respect it’s good to make a check on it.”
The best German throwers in front of 1443 spectators in Bratislava were Golla, right winger Tobias Reichmann and left winger Patrick Zieker with five goals each. Despite the sporting insignificance of the game, the entire German team showed enormous will and defied the circumstances with a lot of passion and fighting spirit. At the end of the tournament, the selection of the German Handball Federation (DHB) had more infections with a total of 15 corona cases than there were operational players available.
That was hardly noticeable against Russia. Golla went ahead in defense and attack with great commitment. In addition, goalkeeper Daniel Rebmann stood out with great saves and backcourt player Paul Drux with a good overview.
Whether Germany will end the European Championship, which was held under extreme conditions, in seventh or eighth place depends on the results of the main round group 1 playing on Wednesday evening. At the EM 2020, the DHB selection had reached fifth place. However, the tournaments are difficult to compare due to the severe corona turbulence.
Germany fans show humor
There were just 13 German players on the match sheet against Russia, three fewer than Gislason should have called up. “Alfred, take us,” wrote some of the German fans who had traveled with them jokingly on a poster in the Slovakian capital – but they certainly hit a nerve with the not serious saying.
On Wednesday morning, along with ten replacements, only four of those 17 players will board the charter flight to Frankfurt/Main who, full of anticipation and euphoria, had started the European Championship mission exactly two weeks earlier. In addition to leader Golla, only playmaker Philipp Weber, backcourt player Julian Köster and Lukas Zerbe remained negative throughout the tournament.
After the defeats against defending champion Spain (23:29), the European Championship bronze medalist Norway (23:28) and vice world champion Sweden (21:25), the Gislason team had no chance of reaching the semi-finals before the game. While the EM for the corona patients was over with the journey home before the official conclusion, the rest gave everything.
The Russians, coached by long-standing Bundesliga coach Velimir Petkovic, were initially behind most of the time. Hendrik Wagner, who after his unsuccessful return from the corona isolation only watched the game from the stands of the Ondreja Nepelu Arena for safety reasons, applauded with satisfaction.
“That was a really great energy performance from our team. We forced the Russians to make a lot of mistakes and have to continue the same way in defense,” praised DHB sports director Axel Kromer at the break.
However, in the seventh game in eleven days, the wear and tear was also noticeable. The game therefore remained exciting until the end, at 26:25 (51 st ) Russia took the lead for the first time. The game was decided by a double Kempa twelve seconds before the end, Zieker converted ice cold.