The new national coach Markus Gaugisch had to put up with the first mood dampener in the second game with the German handball players. The weakened DHB selection lost a friendly against the Netherlands 18:24 (5:13).
In front of 2000 spectators in Almere, Netherlands, captain Alina Grijseels was the top scorer of the German team with six goals. The guests could never be really dangerous for the 2019 world champion.
“The result shows a bit where the problem was. Of course, scoring 18 goals is not enough to win a game,” said Gaugisch. “Pace, pressure, passing – all of that comes with more power from the Dutch women. But that wasn’t surprising either, they’ve just progressed there.”
The German team found the game difficult and only scored the first goal after more than five minutes. Before and after that, the best chances were missed again and again, so that the hosts were able to pull away. As in the easy 40:11 win against Greece last Thursday, goalkeeper Isabell Roch was once again one of the best German players. But even the 31-year-old could not avoid the deserved defeat.
Little creativity in attack, weak defense
“I think we’re sleeping through the first half a bit, making technical mistakes that are too easy and throwing away a lot of free ones, getting a lot of goals against us,” said Grijseels.
Gaugisch and the DHB selection had already bought their ticket for the European Championships in November by beating the Greeks. The test match against the Netherlands now served as a yardstick. And it should come as no surprise to Gaugisch that he still has a lot of work ahead of him before the tournament in Slovenia, Montenegro and North Macedonia.
His team only scored a few goals, especially from the outside positions, despite some excellent opportunities. The defense was not as stable as the 48-year-old would have liked. In addition, there was a lack of creative solutions against the defense of the hosts in the attacking game. However, Gaugisch had to do without some regulars like the flu-sick captain Emily Bölk.
After the break, the German team improved a bit. But that wasn’t enough against an internationally high-class opponent like the Netherlands to turn the game around.
Source: dpa