live blog
Will the German handball players say goodbye to the home European Championships with a medal? A direct ticket to the Olympic Games in Paris is also at stake against Sweden. All news in the live blog.
9:34 p.m
Lots of familiar faces in Sweden’s squad
As with most European national teams, there are several Bundesliga players in the Swedes’ squad. Four professionals are active at SC Magdeburg: right winger Daniel Pettersson, backcourt players Felix Claar and Albin Lagergren and pivot Oscar Bergendahl play for the reigning Champions League winners. With the backcourt players Eric Johansson and Karl Wallinius (both THW Kiel), the playmakers Jim Gottfridsson (Flensburg-Handewitt) and Jonathan Edvardsson (Hannover-Burgdorf) as well as pivot Max Darj (Füchse Berlin), there are a total of nine players in coach Glenn Solberg’s squad, who earn their money in Germany’s top league.
8:31 p.m
Million mark cracked: European Handball Championship sets standards
The European Handball Championship in Germany has broken the million mark in terms of spectators in the halls. 1,008,660 fans attended the 65 tournament games, the European Handball Federation (EHF) announced this new European Championship record at the final press conference on Saturday in Cologne. “We did it,” said EHF President Michael Wiederer “full of pride.” Overall, more than 96 percent of all tickets were sold at the six venues.
“This is not just a record. This is an enormous difference to all previous handball events,” said Wiederer. The historic world record crowd at the start of the tournament in the Düsseldorf football stadium with 53,586 spectators was followed by games in Mannheim, Berlin, Munich, Hamburg and Cologne. “We have created historic days for our sport in Germany,” said Andreas Michelmann, President of the German Handball Federation (DHB).
7:15 p.m
Johannes Golla: “Bronze medal is the clear goal”
It was a disappointing evening for the German team on Friday – but at dinner the mood was a little more positive again: “We talked about what happened and that we can still be proud of ourselves,” said Johannes Golla in an interview in the Sports show on Saturday. There was no analysis of the defeat on Saturday – but encouraging words from the national coach. The entire interview can be found here:
6:53 p.m
Wolff wants a medal hanging around his neck
The disappointment over the semi-final exit was still written on the faces of Germany’s handball players on Saturday morning, but goalkeeper Andreas Wolff seemed to have digested the 26:29 against Denmark the quickest. “We have to look forward, we have a chance of a medal – that’s the most important thing for me,” said Wolff at the sports show. “By the way, direct Olympic qualification could be lost, but the fact that we can finally have a medal hanging around our necks again is fantastic.”
5:46 p.m
Gislason defends Knorr
National coach Alfred Gislason was surprised at Knorr’s words on Saturday and defended the playmaker. “Of course he could have done better. But I don’t have much to blame him for,” said Gislason.
The national coach hopes to be able to get Knorr out of his mental slump in time. “We’ll put that aside now. The players should take the positive with them. We have to focus on Sweden now,” said Gislason and, referring to Knorr’s self-criticism, added: “I didn’t think it was like that.”
4:58 p.m
Knorr – “I let fear paralyze me”
Juri Knorr was almost excessively self-critical after the game and was still disappointed with his performance during the media round on Saturday morning. “I let myself be paralyzed a bit by the fear of the magnitude of the moment. I don’t want that again, it’s not worth it,” said the playmaker the day after the 26:29 against Denmark: “Experience has shown me that you don’t get anywhere with it and that in the end you just blame yourself for it.”
In the game in front of almost 20,000 spectators in Cologne, Germany held up well, especially in the first half. After the break, however, the broader squad and the individual class of the Danish world champion were decisive. Knorr then struggled immensely and found it difficult to sleep.
“I got drunk for a bit with my cell phone, then I read until I couldn’t keep my eyes open anymore,” reported Knorr at a media event in Cologne on Saturday. Even after the short night, he found it visibly difficult to look ahead. “It’s just disappointing when you wake up the next day and think there was more, it could have been more.”
4:10 p.m
“Final for Olympic qualification”
The European champion will also secure a direct ticket to the Olympic handball tournament in Paris in the summer of 2024. But because both finalists have already qualified – France as hosts, Denmark as world champions – the game for third place is about participation. Sweden and Germany would then avoid one of the qualifying tournaments that will be held in March. “It is the final for direct Olympic qualification. We know that it is a big task,” says national coach Alfred Gislason.
3:06 p.m
The last appearance of the German handball players
It is the last matchday of the 2024 European Handball Championship. The German team is there, which was not always a given during the course of the tournament. Unfortunately it wasn’t enough for the grand final, but “only” for the game for third place. The duel for bronze against Sweden can be seen live on ARD from 3 p.m., and the game is available in the live stream and in the full radio report on sportschau.de.