Bratislava (dpa) – The team of national coach Alfred Gislason lost on Friday evening against co-favorite Norway with 23:28 (12:14) and thus conceded the second main round defeat within two days.
Despite a strong performance by the oldies at times, the dream of the EM semi-finals for Germany’s corona-plagued handball players is becoming ever more distant. National coach Alfred Gislason sat alone in his chair for a few seconds shortly after the final whistle, goalkeeper veteran Johannes Bitter tried to cheer up his disappointed teammates with small gestures.
In view of the already four minus points, moving into the knockout phase is theoretically still possible, but the German team no longer has it in their own hands. Above all, Bitter struggled with the fact that the second row of the Norwegians scored too easy goals. “A few people score goals that weren’t planned,” said the keeper, but still found appreciative words: “We can be proud of a bit. We never gave up. The game could have turned around. We have to have these moments force.”
Norwegians were better and made fewer mistakes
Gislason acknowledged the Norwegians’ success, “because they were better than us and made fewer mistakes than we did,” said the Icelander on ZDF. Nevertheless, he praised his team: “I’m still very proud of my boys. They really gave their all. We knew that everything had to work out to have a chance.” Julian Köster has given up hope of reaching the semi-finals. “It’s very frustrating. We don’t need to concern ourselves with the semi-finals. It’s almost impossible.”
Again, there is not much time to quarrel. The next chance for a sense of achievement at the tournament in Slovakia and Hungary is offered by the DHB selection on January 23 (6 p.m. / ARD) against record European champions Sweden. The best thrower of the German team in front of 2026 spectators in Bratislava was Johannes Golla with four goals. Ultimately, the team, which was thrown together due to numerous corona cases, simply lacked the class against the Norwegians around their superstar Sander Sagosen (THW Kiel).
Bitter again strong in goal
39-year-old Johannes Bitter was once again one of Germany’s best in goal. The veteran, who had actually resigned from the national team, was only nominated because of the positive corona tests from Andreas Wolff and Till Klimpke, but he played against the Scandinavians from the start as if he had never been away. In the first round, Bitter parried a number of throws. He had a strong rate of 39 percent saved balls – and yet the Norwegians pulled away. Because the longer the game lasted, the more problems there were in the German attack. The DHB selection either left good chances or was noticed by bad passes.
Eleven actors still in isolation
Friday had started well. For the second day in a row, no other national player tested positive for Corona. Nevertheless, eleven actors are still in isolation in their hotel rooms. They also had to watch this game in front of the TV. Among them is still backcourt player Julius Kühn, who was the first national player to test positive on January 15th. In theory, the 28-year-old could have played again against the Norwegians, but his test result still showed a value that “did not meet the requirements for a return to the tournament,” as the DHB announced. So Gislason relied on the same 16 players as in the 23:29 against Spain the day before.
“We have too little throwing precision”
But his motley squad, which was made up of a number of late nominees, found it increasingly difficult against the Scandinavians. “I think it’s mainly because we’re making these unforced mistakes, as so often,” said DHB sports director Axel Kromer at the break. “Of course we don’t have enough throwing precision.” It didn’t help that Bitter held up outstandingly at times or that the German defense was solid most of the time. In attack, hardly anything came together from the middle of the first half. Ultimately, the badly decimated DHB selection could not compensate for the considerable personnel problems.
After all, the national coach and his players now have a day to at least reasonably prepare for the next opponent. Maybe training before the game against the Swedes is even possible, and that wasn’t always the case at this curious European Championship.