Out of the dream! Germany’s handball players have also lost their last theoretical minimal chance of reaching the European Championship semi-finals.
National coach Markus Gaugisch’s team lost their penultimate main round game against Olympic champions and defending champions Norway 27:32 (13:19) and suffered their third tournament defeat.
Catching up after the break comes too late
The German team only started after the break “Mission Impossible” a race to catch up – but too late. In front of 2,677 spectators in the Vienna Stadthalle, the tournament favorite, who had initially clearly shown the German team’s limits, maintained his lead over time. In the end, the best German throwers were playmaker Alina Grijseels, left winger Alexia Hauf, Annika Lott and Viola Leuchter with four goals each.
Before the final group game against Slovenia on Wednesday (3:30 p.m.), Germany has 2:6 points in main round group 2. The German team had already lost significantly against the Netherlands (22:29) and Denmark (22:30). The game for fifth place is no longer within reach; it is now a matter of a final position between seventh and tenth.
Starting lineup rebuilt
Gaugisch converted his starting lineup to three positions. In addition to left winger Antje Döll missing due to illness, the national coach initially did without captain Emily Bölk; Sarah Wachter started in goal instead of Katharina Filter – but the measures were unsuccessful. After just nine minutes, Gaugisch took the first time out, the DHB team was behind 2:6. “Hey guys”the coach called out to his players, “Come on, pull yourself together. That works, but you just have to do your stuff!”
Too careless at work
As a result, this succeeded far too rarely. Although the attacking game improved with the inclusion of Bölk, the German team continued to act far too carelessly in defense. The Norwegians kept getting free shots. With the half-time whistle, Viola Leuchter at least managed to provide a small ray of hope with a direct free throw.
But initially that wasn’t enough to give us encouragement for the second round. The German team continued to make life difficult for itself with missed throws and slight ball losses. It was only in the final quarter of an hour, when everything seemed lost and the defense and goalkeeper Katharina Filter were getting better and better into the game, that Germany started to catch up and even shortened the score from 19:26 to 26:29. But it was too late.
“When you’re clearly behind against Norway so quickly, the danger of a double-digit defeat is always there. That’s why I’m happy with how the team found their way to act against this force. They played courageously, creatively and flexibly after the change.”said Gaugisch after the game.