Impressive solidarity
Nevertheless, there is the other, the positive downside. The continuation of the tournament has given us incredible insights. The cohesion of this team was not played, but thoroughly honest. As a matter of course, players were nominated and traveled to Bratislava. We experienced an emotional roller coaster there and courageous moments. The young Wetzlar goalkeeper Till Klimpke is a prime example for me.
In the first game against Belarus he is replaced by national coach Alfred Gislason. He hadn’t saved a ball and had to react. I’ve been following his development since his youth and saw the deep disappointment from my reporter’s seat in the hall. He fired the handed towel at his seat on the sidelines. His tears could be guessed.
Corona-Aus for Klimpke and Wolff
Alfred Gislason started it again against Austria and was rewarded. Klimpke held up outstandingly, then the Corona came, both for him and for Andreas Wolff, who therefore had no chance to leave a lasting impression.
Julian Köster’s star rose in the following game, he scored six goals and was the man of the match against Poland. A promise for the future, because he is 21 years old. Promoted in Dormagen, matured into a leading player in Gummersbach. In the second division. But it takes the national team to bring him closer to the masses. Germany has talent, but you have to let them play, the clubs have to trust them. This is the only way for the national team to regain its old strength.
Behind Spain, Sweden and Norway
For the first time since the start of the European Championships in 1994, the preliminary round ended with victories without exception. The group was probably the lightest, but Germany didn’t miss out either. In the main round, the limits were then shown and that not only had to do with the increasing number of corona cases. Germany lags behind Spain, Sweden and Norway at the top. This became clear in the decisive phases of the games. It wasn’t just bad luck.
It is now a matter of closing this gap within just two years, because the next European Championship will take place in 2024 in our own country. The opening game in front of a hoped-for 50,000 spectators in Düsseldorf. Then a new handball euphoria should be sparked, which includes counteracting the decline in members in the clubs. Köster, Golla and Kastening will perhaps be the faces, because they were there again this time in very different roles.
Sobering balance sheet
It is right and there is no alternative that Alfred Gislason is continuing on this path, even if his record is sobering when it comes to results: 12th place at the 2021 World Cup, quarter-finals at the Olympic Games in Tokyo and 7th/8th place at this Euro.
I will never forget this tournament and am grateful to have experienced it on site. To have got a feeling for what the German team, the trainers, supervisors and those responsible went through here, including the conciliatory victory at the end against Russia. Waiting for the word “Negativny” was part of it. I can do without that in the future.
Status: 01/25/2022, 21:37