A tailor-made start for the German handball players in the extraordinary opening game at the European Championship in their own country: With 27:14 (13:8), the team of national coach Alfred Gislason outclassed a completely overwhelmed Swiss team. The match winner was the outstanding goalkeeper Andreas Wolff.
While the Swiss were able to keep up in the first half in front of a world record crowd of 53,586 spectators in the converted Düsseldorf football stadium, there was no sign of that in the second half. Germany worked itself into a frenzy and literally pushed its desolate opponent against the wall.
Handball festival with many happy fans
So in the end it was the hoped-for big handball festival in Düsseldorf with many happy German fans who danced in the stands, waved black, red and gold flags and enthusiastically celebrated their handball heroes with standing ovations – especially the outstanding goalkeeper Andreas Wolff National coach Gislason attested to a “phenomenal performance”.
“Relieved and a very nice experience”
“But the Icelander was also very happy otherwise.”I’m very relieved with how things went today. It was a very nice experience for me too.”, he said. For the Germans it was the second-highest European Championship victory ever after the 36:22 against Ukraine in 2006.
“The scenery was gigantic. I had goosebumps as soon as I walked in. Nobody expected that it would be so clear at the end. We did really well”said playmaker Juri Knorr at the ARD microphone.
Desiree Krause, Sportschau, January 10, 2024 10:49 p.m
Five saves after ten minutes
The German team started the game well. From the start, the overwhelming backdrop created a unique atmosphere in the Düsseldorf Arena. This seemed to inspire the German players, but there was little sign of nervousness among Gislason’s men.
Although things didn’t go according to plan in the beginning, one man was there to make up for it: Germany’s number one Andreas Wolff. The keeper had five saves on his list after just ten minutes. That gave his team great security.
Germany’s goalkeeper Andreas Wolff in action in the opening game of the European Championship against Switzerland.
Wolff played the ball back afterwards: “We played a very strong defense and were ready to react to the physical toughness of the Swiss”said Wolff at the ARD microphone. Remarkable: Germany had never conceded so few goals in a European Championship game.
Desiree Krause, sports show, January 10, 2024 11:05 p.m
Hymns of praise for Andreas Wolff
In fact, the front men knew how to make good use of Wolff’s saves. Things worked better from minute to minute with the strong goalkeeper behind us. Juri Knorr and Julian Köster in particular took advantage of their freedom and put their team reassuringly ahead with three early goals each, 6:4 (14th) and 10:4 (20th).
On the other hand, the Swiss, who had been highly praised in advance, found no means against the German defense and did not get into the game at all. Former Bundesliga star Andy Schmid was unable to set the tone as he had hoped, or he failed due to Andreas Wolff, who had a catch rate of more than 50 percent of saved balls at halftime – a world-class record.
“I knew Andi was good, but so good…? That was a performance like from another planet,” said Juri Knorr, who also found superlatives for his keeper, who was consequently named “Man of the match”.
Gislason was able to switch early
National coach Gislason took advantage of the opportunity to make the first changes early on. Christoph Steinert replaced Timo Kastening on the right wing, and Jannik Kohlbacher also replaced captain Johannes Golla on the circle. The Icelander initially left his youngsters, the U21 world champions Renars Uscins and Justus Fischer, on the bench.
The changes did not disrupt the rhythm of the game. The fact that it was “only” 13:8 at the break was due to the fact that the offensive team had not yet exploited their chances optimally. The only point of criticism from Gislason: “We made too many mistakes in numerical situations.”
Handball European Championship: Jannik Kohlbacher in a flying pose
That should change in the second section. Gislason’s team now really got rolling. “Germany, Germany” echoed through the huge hall, the German fans were more than satisfied. “If everyone takes something from this exciting atmosphere in the stadium, then it will help in the rest of the tournament,” said ARD expert Dominik Klein in the audio stream.
Intermediate sprint from 16:10 to 23:10
Gislason now also gave the strong Julian Köster a break and brought on Sebastian Heymann for the offensive. The pressure on the opponent remained high and Germany now threw off all shackles. From 16:10, the DHB team pulled ahead 23:10 (53rd) and played the completely overwhelmed Swiss dizzy, who only scored two goals in 20 minutes.
Now the youngsters Renars Uscins, Justus Fischer and Martin Hanne were also allowed to take part and they fit in well. And ten minutes before the end, the great Andreas Wolff was also allowed to leave the floor – at this point his quota had increased to 61 percent (14 saves) – sensational. “He had an incredible run, we didn’t want to take him out too early,” said Gislason and brought on the young David Späth, who was having an easy time at that point.
Dominik Klein: “Wide awake everywhere”
“In all the facilities, in attack, in defense, in backward movement – the German team was wide awake everywhere,” analyzed ARD expert Dominik Klein in the audio stream. “With this performance, they can do a lot.”
The German fans celebrated their team with “Oh, how beautiful that is” and can now look forward to Sunday, when the second group game against North Macedonia takes place.