Second bankruptcy in the main round of the European Championship
DHB team pays “a little lesson” again
01/21/2022, 10:00 p.m
The German chances of reaching the semi-finals are dwindling. In the second game of the EM main round, the DHB selection leaves the field as a loser. Without new corona cases, there is an increase in the game against Spain, but Norway is also a size too big.
Germany’s handball players are gradually losing sight of the EM semi-finals. The DHB team of national coach Alfred Gislason conceded the second defeat in the second main round game at 23:28 (12:14) against Norway and is now under a lot of pressure in the fight for participation in the final round in Budapest. The inexperienced German team was quite clearly inferior to the European Championship third party, just like the day before against European champions Spain (23:29), despite a strong fighting performance. An offensive that was too weak cost the DHB team, which was hit by eleven corona-related failures, the chance of a surprise.
Even the goalkeeper Johannes Bitter, who was outstanding in the first half, could not prevent the deserved defeat. The heavyweights of the handball world are currently just one size too big for the completely newly formed DHB team. “The Norwegians have phenomenal quality,” said Bitter on the ZDF microphone: “We had the first row under control. Then comes the second.” The performance was still “better” than against Spain, Bitter said, while Gislason summed it up: “We learned a little bit,” but: “I’m still proud of my boys, they gave everything and never gave up.”
The best thrower for the selection of the German Handball Federation was captain Johannes Golla with four goals. In order to reach the semi-finals, the German team urgently needs two wins – and is dependent on support. If the German team also loses the next game against runners-up Sweden on Sunday (6 p.m. / ARD and in the live ticker on ntv.de), the dream of a medal will be over prematurely. At the end of the main round on Tuesday (6 p.m. / ZDF) against Russia. The top two teams in the group of six advance to the semi-finals.
Against Norway, Gislason was able to field the same team twice in a row for the first time in this tournament. As on the previous day, there were no new corona cases to complain about. The “gratifying picture”, as DHB sports director Axel Kromer called it, was only marred by the increased values at Julius Kühn. The comeback of the top scorer, who was the first DHB player to test positive during the European Championship, burst because the PCR test “did not meet the requirements for a return to the tournament”.
After a good start, the game tilts
“We have to be able to put up a compact defence. It’s very important that we manage to retreat, the Norwegians will set a brutal pace,” the infected national player Kai Häfner had predicted in a ZDF channel a few minutes before the throw-in. Shortly afterwards, the 2016 European champion saw in his hotel room in front of the television how exactly that worked at the beginning.
The German cover with a strong Bitter backing only allowed two goals to be conceded in the first eight minutes. Up front, the circle game in front of 2026 spectators in the Ondreja Nepelu Arena in Bratislava initially worked very well, captain Johannes Golla scored twice. Germany also presented themselves very effectively in the counterattack. The Norwegians had to fight hard for every goal they scored. The Kiel star player Sander Sagosen was well worked by Simon Ernst in the German defense, and Bitter saved one ball after the other. The problem: On the offensive, the backcourt rarely found gaps.
When David Schmidt ended a nine-minute dry spell without a German goal, a 6:5 lead (17th) had long since turned into a deficit. “The defense is great, we make too many mistakes up front,” Gislason yelled during a time-out. The Icelander was visibly frustrated that his team didn’t reward themselves for their strong defense. After all: The Norwegians, who shot Poland 42:31 out of the hall the day before, only rarely got into their feared game of speed. Nevertheless, the DHB men quickly ran after a four-goal deficit after a messed-up restart.