Usury of opportunities: DHB stars leave too much behind
01/24/2024 – 11:42 p.mReading time: 1 min.
In an open exchange of blows, the DHB selection exploited opportunities at the end of the main round and is still in the semi-finals. The highlights in the video.
Germany’s handball players are playing for a European Championship medal. The defeat against Croatia doesn’t change that. At the end of the main round, national coach Alfred Gíslason’s team suffered a sobering 24:30 (14:13) defeat.
In front of 19,750 fans in the once again sold-out Lanxess Arena in Cologne, both teams exchanged blows over long stretches. With four hits each, Sebastian Heymann and Johannes Golla were the best throwers for the DHB selection, which last reached the semi-finals of a major tournament at the home World Cup five years ago.
But as the game went on, Germany increasingly exploited their chances and were repeatedly thwarted by Croatia’s strong goalkeeper Dominik Kuzmanović. In the end it was the first defeat in the Cologne handball temple, where Germany had never lost in 14 international matches.
You can see the highlights of the game here or in the video above.