What a cramp, what a final: The German national handball team defeated Iceland and remained in the race for the semi-finals at the home European Championships. It is a crime thriller that takes place in front of 19,750 spectators. It ends well.
What happened in the Cologne Arena?
The German national handball team is keeping the dreams of a winter fairytale shimmering with precious metals alive. But what a drama it was in this handball temple: seconds before the final siren, Julian Köster redeemed an entire handball crowd that had to endure long and anxious minutes with his 26:24. The Lanxess Arena, that atmospheric bowl that produces a communal, powerful sound at the best of moments, had been a kingdom of fear for minutes. In the end, the big bang was all the greater, with all the tension being released in the last throw of the battle-scarred Köster.
National coach Alfred Gíslason had identified opponents Iceland as a “big danger” and announced a “tough fight”. And the host got it: It was a cramp in the first half, the nervous German team could thank their goalkeeper Andreas Wolff, who was in great form. Without a Wolff in title form it might have gone wrong; in any case, the numerous missed throws and technical errors in the first half would have been significantly more expensive. DHB sports director Axel Kromer saw a “very unpleasant game” until half-time; the Icelanders’ aggressive defense repeatedly presented playmaker Juri Knorr and his teammates with insoluble problems.
Gislason, who likes to leave his regular formation on the field for a long time, had tried three right-handers in the left backcourt after just twenty minutes, and a little later he also brought in the third left-hander on the other side. A symbol of how complicated the first round was for the German team. They are all anticipated finals that this German team has to play. There is no room for mistakes anymore if you don’t want to bury the euphoria surrounding the tournament after just four games.
The second half was an improvement on the first, every time the German team had the chance to pull ahead by at least three goals, something came up. Hanebüchene lack of concentration, two missed seven meters, it wasn’t meant to be. But they fought, they forced the goals in somehow and because Wolff put in a tremendous performance, it was somehow enough. The goalkeeper titan, who had been “emotionally affected” by the game, later blamed it on the home advantage, the handball crowd and his colleagues blamed it on Wolff – and in the end it was a team effort. Somehow. And then finally the fear and worry gave way to despair.
The scene of the game:
Of course, every single one of Wolff’s parades was its own little initial spark. But too often they fizzled out because it was so tiring. This game wasn’t just about a win and two points, it was about continuing the party together. What you want to create together. The team, coach and association had made the people in the country responsible in the run-up to the tournament: It’s all about the euphoria and the home advantage. This team is not capable of achieving great things alone. This game showed that. When the dust settles, there will be a lot to analyze. The time will come and it will come quickly.
52 minutes had been played today when substitute Lukas Mertens threw himself on a bad Icelandic pass; Germany led by one goal. It was a moment that explains the drama of the game: There was nothing nice about it, Mertens was just a little faster. And the Magdeburger secured the play equipment with his whole body. Not delicately, but with conviction and everything he had at his disposal. It wasn’t the decision, it only came with five seconds left. But it was a building block for the foundation on which this victory was built with the sweat of their brows.
And then there were those final moments: Iceland had reduced the score to one goal with 40 seconds left, the German team had to hold onto the ball against open man coverage – and then Juri Knorr slipped away in the center circle with the ball in his hand. In this moment of shock, he “saw the whole tournament passing by in my mind’s eye,” said experienced left winger Rune Dahmke. But Knorr somehow got the ball to Julian Köster. In the end he was in the Icelandic goal.
How was it in the hall?
It was like always when the German national handball team plays an important game in the Lanxess Arena: the hall is full, the stands, which are steeper here than elsewhere, are full of people who are louder than elsewhere. And the German team is playing more successfully than anywhere else. The DHB team has previously been a guest at a World Cup in Cologne six times, most recently in 2019 – when they beat Iceland, Croatia and Spain one after the other in the country’s largest hall. In 2007, the crowd whipped the German team, which had had a bumpy start to the home World Cup in Berlin, through a complicated tournament path to the winter fairy tale: Spain! France! Poland! In the end, the World Cup title was won for coach Heiner Brand’s team.
In 2019, the DHB team impressed in Cologne, then had to move for the semi-finals. “We avoided the mistake from the 2019 home World Cup when we moved from the gigantic hall in Cologne to the smaller hall in Hamburg for the semi-finals,” remembers the then DHB Vice President Bob Hanning in an interview with ntv.de. “It felt like half of the spectators were officials and only half were fans. That was the killer, that’s when the plug was pulled.” Now they want to complete the medal mission here, in the German handball Mecca.
But this time the crowd was infected by the atmosphere on the field, and at some point in the second half a veil fell over the stands. It was the collective fear of the end of dreams, the end of the party. But then, at some point, we pulled ourselves out of lethargy together. The hall became loud, it became a factor when everything was just will and must. “We can still add something and Cologne can also add something,” said pivot Jannik Kohlbacher afterwards. The beginning has been made.
But what was going on before kick-off?
The Marseillaise is known, as is Italy’s lively anthem, at least since Michael Schumacher once achieved victory after victory for Ferrari. “God Save The King” and the “Star-spangled Banner” are common knowledge among the world’s anthems. But the “Lofsöngur”, the anthem of Iceland? You don’t have that ready. Accordingly, very few German fans and journalists were surprised by what spilled out of the Lanexess Arena speakers before kick-off, and rather than deeply moving, the Icelandic selection was much more irritated.
It was the whistles from the usually happy Icelandic fans that shook up the rest of the hall. The hall management had played the wrong piece of music, a bumpy start to the evening. The depressing situation was saved by hall announcer Kevin Gerwin, who had the audience chant “Island, Iceland”. It was a nice moment together. The “Lofsöngur” was found after all.
“That was a wrong national anthem. No Icelander recognized what it was. It wasn’t the Icelandic one,” said national coach Alfred Gislason, himself an Icelander, at the press conference late in the evening. The organizers cited a technical glitch.
And will Germany now become European champions?
The host stays on track, the path remains long. Nobody talks about the title, it would be presumptuous. But the German team fought for another early final on the way to the semi-finals. Not more but also not less.