Good performance by the German handball players at the European Championship dress rehearsal. There was a clear 35:31 (20:15) win against Portugal in front of enthusiastic fans in Kiel four days before the start of the tournament.
“That makes you want to see next week,” Experienced Kai Häfner was very satisfied after the game in front of the ARD microphone. He showed the German plan for the European Championships: “We want to inspire the German fans with passionate handball and get them on our side. We did that well today.”
Despite all the satisfaction, national coach Alfred Gislason also pointed out the deficits: “We had a phase in the second half with a lot of individual mistakes. We have to put that right.” Overall, he was also satisfied: “We played much more consistently today than we did in the first game against the Portuguese four days ago.”
With deeper defense, fewer gaps offered
After the narrow 34:33 win in the first test match against Portugal on Thursday, Gislason criticized his people’s permeability and lack of aggressiveness in defense.
Accordingly, the crew in front of goalkeeper Andreas Wolff took a closer approach in the second match against the southern Europeans. This made it a little easier to prevent the frequent passes to the circle, but in the early stages they caught one or two long-range hits from the variable-acting Portuguese.
Lots of momentum in attack
But the German team also got going well offensively, and after eight minutes it was 6:6 in front of enthusiastic fans in the Kiel Ostseehalle. It was a balanced game in which the middlemen Juri Knorr and Julian Köster put their stamp on the German game. The score was 11:9 (15th minute), 12:10 (19th) and 12:12 (21st) to make it 16:13 in the 27th minute.
And then Wolff finally got going in the goal of the German team. He parried several of the opponents’ throws in a row and the German team was able to pull away to 20:15 by halftime with quick counterattacks. Wolff even scored the goal himself to make it 18:14 in the Portuguese’s deserted goal – and the hall went wild.
Johannes Bitter: “Team will be able to overrun opponents”
ARD expert Johannes Bitter was already confident at the break in view of the increasingly strong Germans for the upcoming European Championships: “We may not have the team with the outstanding individual players at the European Championships. But with a good goalkeeping performance and our fast game, the team will be able to overrun many teams.”analyzed the experienced HSV Hamburg keeper.
The only downer at half-time: Right winger Patrick Groetzki had to be substituted shortly before half-time due to an injury to his right foot.
Späth, Fischer, Mertens – young players convince
In the second section, Wolff made room for the young David Späth from the Rhein Neckar Löwen. And the German team put more and more pressure on, which also had to do with the excellent performances of young players like Lukas Mertens (Magdeburg) on the left winger and pivot Justus Fischer from TSV Hannover-Burgdorf, who particularly excelled in defense work.
The score was 29:22 in the 40th minute of the game, the German team had worked themselves into a real frenzy – but it didn’t last. The German seven lost its line in the following minutes and Portugal was able to get within 29:28 with a 6-0 run. Coach Gislason substituted his regular crew again, and Wolff also returned to goal.
Regular forces bring stability
This also brought security back into the German game. Knorr and Kai Häfner scored twice to make it 32:28 (54th), the Portuguese’s upswing was stopped.
The DHB men will play their European Championship opening game against Switzerland next Wednesday (January 10th, 2024) in front of more than 50,000 spectators in the Düsseldorf football arena. Other opponents in preliminary group A are North Macedonia (January 14th/8.30 p.m.) and record world champions France (January 16th/8.30 p.m./ARD). The top two finishers advance to the main round.