The German handball players lost their second main round game against Norway 23:28. The medal dream moves into the far distance.
Alfred Gislason dropped onto a black chair after the final siren. Despite the next EM damper, the national coach did not hold out for long. “We have learned a bit,” said the DHB coach after the 23:28 (12:14) of the German handball team against Norway. “I’m still proud of my boys, they gave their all and never gave up.”
After the second defeat within 26 hours, however, Gislason also had to realize that his team was gradually losing sight of the semi-finals. In the fight for participation in the final round in Budapest, Germany is now under a lot of pressure. “It’s a shame, but we can’t blame ourselves,” said playmaker Philipp Weber.
The inexperienced German team was quite clearly inferior to the European Championship third party, just like the day before against European champions Spain (23:29), despite a strong fighting performance. An offensive that was too weak cost the DHB team, which was hit by eleven corona-related failures, the chance of a surprise.
Even the goalkeeper Bitter, who was outstanding in the first half, could not prevent the deserved defeat. The heavyweights of the handball world are currently just one size too big for the completely newly formed DHB team.
“We will not complain and will continue to work,” Bitter said on ZDF. “Norway have phenomenal quality, we actually broke the front row. Then the second row comes and a few people score goals that we didn’t plan for.”
Germany starts the game strong
The best thrower for the selection of the German Handball Federation (DHB) was captain Johannes Golla on Friday with four goals. In order to reach the semi-finals, the German team urgently needs two wins – and is dependent on support. If the German team also loses the next game against runners-up Sweden on Sunday (6:00 p.m. / ARD), the medal dream will be over prematurely.
At the end of the main round on Tuesday (6:00 p.m. / ZDF) against Russia. The top two teams in the group of six advance to the semi-finals.
Against Norway, Gislason was able to field the same side twice in a row for the first time in the tournament. As on the previous day, there were no new corona cases to complain about. The “gratifying picture”, as DHB sports director Axel Kromer called it, was only marred by the increased values at Julius Kühn. The comeback of the top scorer, who was the first DHB player to test positive during the European Championship, burst because the PCR test “did not meet the requirements for a return to the tournament”.
DHB team missed the start of the second half
The German cover with a strong Bitter backing only allowed two goals to be conceded in the first eight minutes. Up front, the circle game in front of 2026 spectators in the Ondreja Nepelu Arena in Bratislava initially worked very well, captain Johannes Golla scored twice. Germany also presented themselves very effectively in the counterattack.
The Norwegians had to fight hard for every goal they scored. The Kiel star player Sander Sagosen was well worked by Simon Ernst in the German defense, and Bitter saved one ball after the other. The problem: On the offensive, the backcourt rarely found gaps.
When David Schmidt ended a nine-minute dry spell without a German goal, a 6:5 lead (17th) had long since turned into a deficit. “The defense is great, we make too many mistakes up front,” Gislason yelled during a time-out. The Icelander was visibly frustrated that his team didn’t reward themselves for their strong defense.