The German national team delivers a convincing starting performance at the European Handball Championships. While two veterans carry the team, a duo falls away. The individual criticism.
Andreas Wolff breathed a sigh of relief after the hotly contested Austrian thriller, then high-fived his teammates: Led by their strong goalkeeper and a great captain Johannes Golla, Germany’s handball players kept their nerve at the start of the European Championship and scored the important first points.
National coach Alfreð Gíslason’s team defeated Austria 30:27 (12:8) in the emotionally charged neighborhood duel in front of 5,820 spectators in Herning, Denmark, and headed straight for the main round. With a strong defensive performance for a long time, the German team demonstrated its great ambitions at these finals.
This is also reflected in the individual criticism from t-online. You can read about which DHB professional got the top grade and who got off to an unfortunate start here or in the photo show above.
The defense was “the showpiece,” said Marko Grgić on ARD after the final whistle: “We put up a great defense throughout the entire game. The time penalties made the game a little tighter again. But we were never in danger of giving anything away.” His coach added: “I really enjoy this defense. But we have to improve in attack,” said Gíslason.
The German team continues at the same location on Saturday (from 8:30 p.m. in the t-online live ticker) against Serbia, which lost its opening game 27:29 against the two-time European champions Spain. At the end of the preliminary round on Monday there will be a duel with Spain. To reach the main round, at least second place in Group A is required.