Almere (dpa) – Markus Gaugisch had his enthusiasm about his debut as national coach refined with a record win. With a 40:11 (19:5) against Greece, the German handball players secured the ticket for the European Championship.
Never before had the German women achieved such a clear success in qualifying for the European Championship. “Cool” was his debut, the 48-year-old rejoiced afterwards. “That was a special moment.” The victory means he can now plan for November’s tournament in Slovenia, Montenegro and North Macedonia.
The DHB women were superior in all respects
The best German thrower in front of 50 spectators in Almere were Johanna Stockschläder with six and Alina Grijseels with five goals. “It was fun. If the hall had been full, it would have been even better,” said Gaugisch. The game took place in the Netherlands after Belarus were suspended from qualifying group 3 by the European federation EHF. Germany, Greece and the Netherlands then agreed to play the remaining qualifiers in Almere. The Greeks waived their right to domicile.
But they probably wouldn’t have had a chance at home either. Technically, tactically, physically – the DHB selection was superior in all respects to the weakened opponent. One of the things Gaugisch wanted to see on his debut was a confident defensive performance from his team. In the early minutes there was still a problem here. But when the Greeks had chances, the strong goalkeeper Isabell Roch fended off the throws.
No gauge of your own strength
The longer the game lasted, the more the outsider lost his physical condition. Germany had already easily won the first leg last October by 36:10. Captain Grijseels, Xenia Smits and Antje Lauenroth used almost every gap that came up. And the gaps kept getting bigger. “We did what we set out to do. We wanted to play good marking and score easy goals, and we managed to do that,” said Grijseels.
Gaugisch knew beforehand that the game would not be an indicator of his own strength. Accordingly, he acted calmly during his first assignment as a national coach on the sidelines and during the time-outs. What the DHB selection is really capable of should only be seen on April 23 (4 p.m.). Then there is a friendly in Almere against the Netherlands. After all, the Oranje team is fifth in the Olympics and won both qualifying games against Germany.