Newly formed team
The Icelander set an example right from the start. Sebastian Heymann instead of Julius Kühn, Luca Witzke instead of Philipp Weber and Djibril M’Bengue instead of Kai Häfner: Gislason offered three of the nine tournament debutants right from the start and left the established forces on the bench for one half.
The newly formed team did well at first and quickly led 6: 3 (10th) – but especially in defense it revealed some deficits. The agreement in the middle block did not work, and there was also a lack of penetration at the front. Before the break it was mainly thanks to keeper Andreas Wolff that the German team never fell behind despite almost six minutes without a goal of their own. “It wasn’t consistently fluent in attack”, judged Gislason: “But especially the defense was better in the last quarter of an hour.”
More focused attacks
“I think we can still improve a bit. Especially in defense, we’re not where we want to be.”said Team manager Oliver Roggisch at the break in the ARD and demanded “more emotions” and a “better shift game “.
In the second round, Gislason brought his veterans in the back area – and the German team now seemed more concentrated. Also because the now substitute Till Klimpke, like Wolff, showed a few parades, the DHB team quickly pulled away to 22:17 (39th).
But another phase of weakness followed, so that ten minutes before the end the lead suddenly melted down to one goal (25:24). Then Germany pulled away again.
Next test against France
In the EM dress rehearsal, the German team will meet Olympic champion France on Sunday (7:05 p.m.) before traveling to the preliminary round venue in Bratislava on Wednesday.
At the EM, where the German games are broadcast live by ARD and ZDF, the German team will initially face Belarus (January 14), Austria (January 16) and Poland (January 18) in the Slovak capital. The first two teams qualify for the main round, which also takes place in Bratislava.
dpa / sid
|
Status: January 7th, 2022, 5:36 pm