After the second narrow defeat against Olympic champions France, Germany’s handball women did not feel like losers within 48 hours.
The DHB selection lost 29:30 (13:18) to the World Cup runners-up in front of 3000 spectators in Nancy despite a strong race to catch up in the second half, but still gained a lot of self-confidence for the European Championships from November 4th to 20th in Slovenia , North Macedonia and Montenegro.
“I can only congratulate the girls. They did a good job”, national coach Markus Gaugisch praised the renewed strong performance of his protégés two days after the 31:34 in Metz. So Germany is still waiting against France for their first international win since 2011. “In the end there were little things missing, but we should look at the way. And the way is good,” said Gaugisch.
Bolk strong and proud
The best German throwers were Emily Bölk with eight goals and Alina Grijseels (5). “I’m very proud of the team, how we fought and threw everything in,” said co-captain Bölk.
After a good start, some mistakes crept into the German game in the middle of the first half. This led to a four-goal deficit (7:11/20.), which even grew to five goals by the break. In this phase, the defense could hardly get hold of the nimble French women, so that goalkeeper Isabell Roch was not a factor either.
That changed when it started again. In attack, the DHB selection now acted more courageously and at the back goalkeeper Katharina Filter advanced with several saves to the hoped-for support. “It was really fun. The defense did a good job,” said Filter. “We have shown the progress we have made in a short time.”
In the middle of the second half, the German team was suddenly two goals ahead at 22:20 and kept the game open until the final minute. Grijseels then failed with the last throw, so that in the end the favorite was able to celebrate.
