Bratislava (dpa) – Goalkeeper veteran Johannes Bitter and his teammates sneaked across the playing field in Bratislava with masks immediately after the first EM setback, but they couldn’t hide their disappointment.
National coach Alfred Gislason was also clearly frustrated after the corona-plagued German handball players were shown their limits for the first time at this European Championship in a 23:29 (12:14) win against defending champion Spain. “We made too many mistakes,” said the Icelander in Bratislava.
Gislason: “Anything is still possible”
His players became even clearer after the first bankruptcy in the tournament in Slovakia and Hungary. “Today we got a lesson,” said shooting star Julian Köster on ARD. Backcourt player Christoph Steinert said: “That was definitely our worst game so far.” The best throwers of the German team, who defended themselves with all their might, were left winger Patrick Zieker and captain Johannes Golla, each with four goals. Nevertheless, without eleven players who tested positive, it was not enough to cause a sensation against the ripped-off European champion. Golla classified his ragtag crew as “not clever enough”.
Gislason’s team doesn’t have much time to quarrel now: In order not to completely lose sight of the dream of the European Championship semi-finals, the first main round victory should be this Friday (8.30 p.m. / ZDF) against the Norwegians, who are also among the favorites . “Now we have to concentrate very much on Norway. Anything is still possible,” said the national coach. His captain said: “It’s a crazy situation, but we take it that way. We want to show better handball in the next few games.”
Steinert surprisingly there
The day had started so well from a German point of view. Unlike in the past few days, no other national player had tested positive. The DHB selection was able to compete against the Spaniards with 16 players, this time there were even two goalkeepers in the squad, but it didn’t work entirely without curiosities: Christoph Steinert, who only tested positive the day before, suddenly had only negative ones in the hours before kick-off Tests – so that the 32-year-old was surprisingly in the German squad. Steinert even walked from the team hotel to the hall to be there.
Spaniards mercilessly exploit German weaknesses
However, others initially played the focus of this classic. The longer the game against the ripped-off Spaniards, the stronger the German defense around Patrick Wiencek, Simon Ernst and captain Johannes Golla. And what the inner block couldn’t fend off, the again strong goalkeeper oldie Johannes Bitter parried. At least a few times. Because although the DHB selection acted wide awake from the start, the Spaniards also came to their gates. At first it was an extremely close game against the strongest German opponent so far in this tournament. But as the evening progressed, the German team lost more and more.
The Spaniards mercilessly exploited this period of weakness. As the first team ever, they could win the European title for the third time in a row this year. Your greatest strength: You don’t let anything shake you. Not even from a DHB team that was thrown together and started with nine nominated players. Eleven players who tested positive, such as Timo Kastening or keeper Andreas Wolff, sat isolated in their hotel rooms in front of the television. Assistant coach Erik Wudtke was also missing for a short time in the game against the Spaniards because the latest corona tests had given an “unclear picture”, as the DHB announced.
There was a lack of precision in attack
In order to avoid further infections, the German substitutes even sat on the bench with masks – it remains a bizarre EM for this team. But despite all the adversities, the team gave their all. However, something crucial was missing in the first few minutes before and after the break: precision in attack. Again and again Gislason’s team created the best chances – but again and again it failed due to the sometimes outstanding Spanish goalkeeper Gonzalo Perez de Vargas. On the other side, the experienced defending champion used almost every chance and thus pulled further and further away. It should get better against Norway.
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