When Germany plays against Denmark for a place in the semi-finals of the European Handball Championship, almost 20,000 people will support the DHB team. There is no other way. But the home advantage also inspires the overwhelming opponent.
Cologne’s Lanxess Arena will be filled to capacity when the German national handball team plays in the evening (8.30 p.m./ZDF and in the live ticker on ntv.de) wants to make the impossible possible against Denmark: reach the final of the European Championship. The overwhelming majority of the 20,000 spectators will want to contribute to the handball miracle, the German players are counting on the audience to ignite an inferno. “If you have a chance for a miracle anywhere, it would be in Cologne,” said left winger Rune Dahmke.
Opponent Denmark is a superior force, the best team in the world, won the World Cup three times in a row. Germany’s playmaker Juri Knorr sees the fans as having a duty to become part of the whole: “Everyone has to shout for us. Every single person has to shout for us and whip us forward.” Only then would there be a chance of the sensation.
“A sporty dream scenario”
Curious: When it comes to their opponents, they are as unimpressed as possible by the supposed home advantage factor. On the contrary. “It will be an incredible atmosphere and a lot of fun,” said backcourt player Henrik Møllgaard. “I’m looking forward to a great weekend.” Coach Nikolaj Jacobsen admitted that the “20,000 fans cheering on Germany will be a big factor. We know that this hall gives extra strength for the Germans.”
But the 52-year-old former champion coach of the Rhein-Neckar Löwen is sure that his team will also be inspired by the atmosphere: “It’s also a huge motivation for us. I know that my boys are already very hot – that will be tomorrow not less.” Veteran Rasmus Lauge summed it up in the local press: “A hostile environment with 20,000 people who don’t want you to win. It’s a sporting dream scenario.”
“I expect great things”
But there are also a few factors in the German game that worry the favorites, who, unlike the DHB team, have world-class players in every position. “I expect great things from Juri Knorr – hopefully not tomorrow, but in the future,” said Jacobsen. “Juri played a very good tournament. He is a strong player with fantastic speed,” praised the successful coach: “We need a plan for him. He is on the way to becoming a fantastic player for Germany. Our goalkeepers have to help us .”
And then there is the respect for Germany’s strongest team: “Germany has a very good defense in this tournament, of course with Andreas Wolff at the back in goal, who showed his great experience and great class, especially in key moments.” The defense, which had thrown itself against the Hungarian giants in the key game of the main round with great physicality and very fast legs, must be the basis for not being drowned in the Danish attack vortex: “If we can take away their flow a little so that the Danes don’t have the easy ones If you score goals through individual actions, then you start to think about it,” said veteran Dahmke.
“Then we’ll lose out”
Goalkeeper Andreas Wolff, who the Danes fear despite their own world-class duo of Emil Nielsen and Niklas Landin, is counting on “high throwing effectiveness and that we contain the Danes’ circles as much as possible in defense, that we have a good retreat, that we can “Just don’t let the Danes play their game at all,” emphasized Wolff, who, like Dahmke, was there for Germany’s last victory over Denmark in 2016 (!). Since then there have been four defeats. Denmark’s neighbor Sweden had brought the Danes to the brink of defeat in the main round with remarkable defensive work and, above all, consistent, high-intensity retreat behavior at 27:28. “If we decide to openly close the window, we will lose out,” said Wolff.
With his defensive strength and his emotional style, Rune Dahmke is someone for whom the game could be made this evening. “Flying Rune” is a highlight player who can make a big impact. If he, who has become stuck on the left wing over the course of the tournament, improves his throwing effectiveness, he could make a significant contribution to ensuring that his prediction comes true: “I’m sure that at some point in the game we’ll get the chance to win the game to decide. Then we have to be there.”
But it is also clear: if both teams play at their limits, the DHB team does not play its “best game in the last decades,” as the national coach had demanded, “it will be difficult for the others to beat us,” said Nikolaj Jacobsen says it with respectful reserve. What he means: If no one breaks Denmark’s flow, the team is unbeatable. At least for the German team. But it is as the feared Juri Knorr says: “We need a special day, lots of handball ingredients as well as courage and mentality. We must not appear with fear.” Then the Danes also have to be grabbed.