Wolff has hero status again
The savior who came from anger
By Till Erdenberger, Cologne
January 19, 2024, 9:04 p.m
Andreas Wolff turns the Lanxess Arena in Cologne into a madhouse with great parades, turning a trembling game of nervousness and fear into a vital triumph. The German handball national goalkeeper is a phenomenon.
Sometimes emotions reveal much more than numbers: When the German national handball team successfully survived the European Championship thriller against Iceland, the players stormed towards Andreas Wolff. In the great turmoil after the dramatic 26:24 victory in the first main round game at this home tournament, the German goalkeeper was right in the middle of it all. The 2016 European champion was named “Player of the Match” by the fans, and the 32-year-old was celebrated wildly during the game. “I have no idea how many saves the boy had today. It felt like all of them,” enthused right winger Timo Kastening. Left winger Lukas Mertens summed up the importance of his goalkeeper for the team in a simple formula: “Andi saved our asses. What he did was unbelievable.”
The truth that the statistics provide is: Wolff saved 33 percent of all balls on this extraordinary evening in Cologne’s Lanxess Arena. Undoubtedly a strong value. But nobody describes Wolff’s extra class – and certainly not his immense importance for this victory. For comparison: A few hours earlier, Croatia’s goalkeeper Dominik Kuzmanovic had put in a spectacular performance, he parried 42 percent of all throws by the French super team – and still conceded 34 goals, Croatia lost.
“Andi, Andi!”
The German goalkeeper, who is always celebrated by far the loudest in the stands when the teams march in, only rarely got a finger on the ball against Iceland in the middle of the second half. The Northern Europeans repeatedly made up for narrow German leads. To the dismay of most of the 19,750 spectators in the German handball temple, Iceland even took the lead. A defeat would have meant an early end to dreams of a new winter fairy tale. They would have simply collapsed in front of everyone on the biggest stage this tournament still has to offer.
But then Andreas Wolff showed great form: he saved two seven-meter penalties, the second when Iceland had the chance to equalize two minutes before the end. The hall stood, “Andi, Andi!” chanted the people. And Wolff held. “I was kindly asked to keep the seven meters,” said the match winner afterwards. He wanted to comply with this request. If only it were that easy! The nerve-wracking encounter, which was on a knife’s edge until Julian Köster made it 26:24 five seconds before the end, left the goalkeeper “very emotionally affected”. In the end he held on to victory and gave the DHB team what they needed from them. Without that it doesn’t work.
The transformation of the world-class goalkeeper, who had previously pushed himself to achieve top performances primarily through his enormous ambition, had often been talked about. During his meteoric rise, which had reached a dizzying pace with the sensational European Championship in 2016, he was often offended by fellow players and those in charge. Wolff was someone who always gave someone a shout out: declarations of war! Harsh words against colleagues who did not make themselves available to the national team!
There was often stress and at some point Wolff’s ambition and hardness towards himself led to a downward spiral when the first setbacks occurred, instead of fresh energy reserves. There were tournaments where the world-class man was too busy with himself to help his team. The big goals, which were always formulated openly and aggressively, no longer matched the performance and results. “I judged failures too strongly, was frustrated, and then acted accordingly,” he told the “Süddeutsche Zeitung” last year. It became all too destructive when things didn’t work straight away. And if the German team doesn’t have a world-class Wolff, it can’t scratch the world-class mark for the duration of a tournament. Or achieve more again.
“It’s OK to make mistakes”
“The sense of duty, having to play a good tournament, having to carry the whole team on your shoulders” eventually led to “you getting lost in yourself,” Wolff recently reported in an ARD documentary. He sought professional help from a psychologist and together they worked out new ways to channel his great strengths and great ambition into great quality. “I learned that it’s okay to make a mistake. Then you concede a stupid ball. You won’t be able to change that, but it’s not the end of the world either. Then you concentrate on the next one Ball.” With the World Cup last year, which the DHB team finished in fifth place with Wolff, who had finally surpassed the tournament length, Andreas Wolff, who had outgrown his anger, returned to the top of the world.
The game against Iceland was a lesson in how this development worked: from a strong 40 percent in the first half, his rate dropped at some point to well below 30 percent. And then came crunch time, in which the close games are decided and the crowd shouted “Andi, Andi” and Andi gave them and his team everything they needed to make a trembling game full of nervousness and fear end in a frenzy of joy.
“A lot is always written and a lot is said that he is world class. But to confirm that over and over again is really world class,” said left winger Rune Dahmke. Captain Johannes Golla “doesn’t want to praise him too much. But you can say that in this condition he is probably the best goalkeeper in the world at the moment. He keeps us in the tournament, is our life insurance and our best man.” For national coach Alfred Gislason, his goalkeeper is without a doubt the “current best goalkeeper in the world.”
“An important leader”
Afterwards, the 32-year-old, who already has legendary status at the top Polish club Industria Kielce, chatted with journalists for ages in the mixed zone. Wolff is the most sought-after player in the squad. He is one of many good guys, but also one of few stars. He does justice to this role and provides information in German, English or Polish as required. His answers are ready for print and his patience is almost limitless. Like his importance for this team. “Andi is an important leadership figure. He gives the boys a lot of security,” praised the national coach and added: “He has become more balanced and has matured into a world-class goalkeeper. I’m very pleased about that.”
There was correspondingly great concern when the news broke about handball Germany last summer: a slipped disc in the cervical spine of national goalkeeper Andreas Wolff! There was even talk of a possible end to his career. An operation would have meant the end of the home European Championship, but the conservative treatment worked: the national hero returned to goal in November after torturous months in rehab.
The sigh of relief was collective, because Wolff is one of three absolutely irreplaceable players in the German squad, alongside playmaker Juri Knorr and captain and pivot Johannes Golla. He then started the tournament with an unmistakable announcement: “The goal is clearly to become European champion. Anyone who competes and doesn’t want to become European champion has missed their job.” It is mainly thanks to their goalkeeper that the goal is still within reach even after the thriller in Cologne.