Main round instead of flying home: Germany’s handball women have trembled at the European Championship in the next round.
The team of national coach Markus Gaugisch lost 21:23 (10:11) against Spain, fourth in the World Cup, in the final preliminary round, but ended the first phase of the tournament in third place in group D thanks to the better goal difference compared to Poland.
Alina Grijseels best German thrower
The German team delivered a changeable performance in the all-or-nothing game and seemed nervous throughout the season.
Best German thrower in Podgorica was captain Alina Grijseels with six goals. Xenia Smits secured progress with 20 seconds to go.
Next game against the Netherlands
Due to the defeat, the selection of the German Handball Federation (DHB) starts the second phase of the tournament in Skopje without a point. There it is first against the Netherlands (2:2) on Friday, other main round opponents are Olympic champions France (4:0) on Tuesday and Romania (0:4) on Wednesday.
Montenegro (4:0) and Spain (2:2) complete the German main round group. The top two teams in the group of six advance to the semi-finals.
Silver, the biggest EM success to date
The only medal at a European championship to date was silver at the first edition in 1994, the last time the DHB women were on the podium at a major sporting event was when they won the bronze medal at the 2007 World Championships.