live blog
With a win against Croatia on Wednesday evening, the German handball players will reach the semi-finals of the home European Championship. Here you can find all the information about the game in the live blog.
7:51 p.m
The strange Olympic constellation
Curiously, a defeat against Germany could help the Croatian national handball team, which is bottom of the main round group I with one point and has no chance of advancing, to get one step closer to the Olympic Games. Axel Kromer, sports director of the German Handball Association (DHB), spoke of an “absurd constellation”.
6:57 p.m
Kiel captain Duvnjak is eager for the duel
Adopted home or not – when it comes to the European Championships against Germany, Domagoj Duvnjak has no problems playing the “party crasher”. “We’ll at least try”said the captain of THW Kiel to “Handballwoche”. For the long-time Bundesliga professional and Croatia, the final main round game is no longer about anything – for the DHB team, however, it is about getting into the semi-finals. A defeat could possibly even help the Croatians qualify for the Olympics. But that is out of the question for Duvnjak: “We are professional athletes and will do everything to ensure Croatia wins!”
6:09 p.m
The final step into the semi-finals
Germany’s handball players want to make it into the semi-finals of the home European Championship with a win in the last main round game. At the end of the second phase of the tournament, national coach Alfred Gislason’s team will face Croatia this Wednesday (8.30 p.m. live on ARD and in the live stream as well as audio stream on sportschau.de). If the competition plays along, the DHB selection could move into the semifinals even with a defeat. Germany is currently second in the group behind the French, who have already qualified. The DHB team’s semi-final opponent would be top favorite Denmark.