The German handball players’ big and ambitious goal of reaching the semi-finals of the European Championship despite the ultra-tough draw has been achieved. But of course no one wants to be satisfied with that now.
National player Julian Köster, one and a half years ago one of the decisive pioneers for the Olympic silver medal in Paris, makes it clear: “We are a little more relaxed because we have already achieved a big goal. But we are not finished here yet.”
“Extremely emotionally and physically hard”
Köster wants to celebrate the next victory against Croatia on Friday from 5:45 p.m. – live on the first and in the full audio report on sportchau.de – in order to possibly even get revenge against Denmark in the final and win the title.
However, the Gummersbach defense chief and backcourt strategist warns against being blinded by the two test match victories shortly before the tournament (33:27, 32:29 – the second game even in Zagreb): “It will be a completely different game. It’s good to know that we now know them as game types and not just from the video. But we’re not relying on that, the Croatians have tried out a lot. I expect them to be extremely emotional and physical, they’ll handle it well.”
Suddenly burgers and no training
In order to defeat the runner-up world champion after the main round victories against Portugal, Norway and European champion France, the DHB team is relying on a mixture of looseness and focus. After the France game, there were burgers in the German team hotel late in the evening, which the players celebrated as a brilliant change from the usual salad, chicken and pasta menu.
On Thursday (January 29, 2026), national team manager Benjamin Chatton also reported on one “The national coach’s newly discovered generosity in training planning”: Instead of driving to the handball hall in Herning, in addition to video training, individual care and tactics discussions, the only thing on the DHB stars’ daily schedule was the gym.
Settlers games and meet the family
Like almost every day, larger groups formed to play “Settlers of Catan,” while others met their families in the numerous cafés in Silkeborg. Köster about the mood after two and a half weeks of the tournament: “There hasn’t been any cabin fever yet, we just have a super group.”
Against Croatia, a player may stand out that no one had really noticed before – like Juri Knorr recently with his ten-goal gala against France. Köster says about this phenomenon when asked by Sportschau: “That makes it extremely difficult for our opponents to adapt to us. The compliment also goes to Alfred Gislason, who always finds the person who is having the best day through his substitutions.”
