Home bankruptcy instead of encouragement: Germany’s handball players suffered a 33:37 (16:19) defeat against European champions Sweden at the start of the World Cup preparations.
Three months before the start of the World Cup, the team of national coach Alfred Gislason presented themselves in front of 9221 spectators in Mannheim on Thursday with errors and still far from the best form. The best thrower for the DHB selection was captain Johannes Golla with twelve goals.
Already on Saturday, the German team will meet Spain, who are runners-up at the European Championships, in Jaen as part of the EURO-Cup. The games serve to prepare for the World Cup from January 11th to 29th, 2023 in Poland and Sweden. There the DHB selection meets Qatar, Serbia and Algeria in the preliminary round.
Good DHB start
The German team got off to a good start in the 111th duel with the Drei-Kronen-Team and was ahead 6:3 after five minutes. Especially Golla could not be found by the Swedes at the circle at the beginning. The 24-year-old from SG Flensburg-Handewitt scored seven times in the first 13 minutes.
But the momentum flagged. The Scandinavians didn’t let themselves be shaken off and coldly exploited the many gaps in the German defense. In particular, the winger Niclas Ekberg from THW Kiel and the ex-Flensburg player Hampus Wanne repeatedly appeared in front of goalkeeper Andreas Wolff and proved to be safe shooters in the end.
In the middle of the first half, the 2021 World Cup runners-up took the lead for the first time at 11:10 and increased this to three goals by the break because the DHB team lacked the ideas and the necessary precision in attack. At the back, Wolff, who prevented an even greater deficit with a few saves, was often left alone.
After the change, Till Klimpke moved between the posts of the German goal, but the mistakes made by those in front increased even further. Within a good five minutes, the Swedes pulled away with a 6:0 run to 25:16. “We’re just throwing the balls away at the front,” Gislason complained after a time-out that was taken early on.
Nine-goal deficit can no longer be made up
After that, his protégés recovered, but the burden of the nine-goal deficit was too great. After all, the Gislason team tried to limit the damage under the eyes of DHB President Andreas Michelmann, who hoped in vain for a sporting gift for his 63rd birthday in the stands.
When the Swedes became a bit careless in the final phase, the DHB selection came closer again. At 29:33 (52nd) the deficit was only four goals. Suddenly the audience was there again. But there was no turning back.
DHB squad games and results DHB selection
