Germany’s handball players stormed towards their outstanding goalkeeper Andreas Wolff as if in ecstasy, the sold-out Lanxess Arena in Cologne celebrated the winning hero with loud chants. Once again, the 32-year-old goalkeeper led the DHB selection to success with brilliant saves and further fueled hopes for a new winter fairy tale. “Overall, we showed character and showed morale,” said Wolff, admitting that he was “very emotionally affected.”
At the start of the main round, the DHB team beat Iceland in a hard-fought game 26:24 (11:10) and thus celebrated an important victory on the way to the semi-finals. In front of 19,750 spectators, leading figure Juri Knorr was the best German thrower with six goals.
“That was a very strenuous game,” said coach Alfred Gislason on ZDF after the nerve-wracking game against his home country: “Huge compliments to our boys.” His team showed incredible character. “I think this game brought an incredible amount to the team.”
Previously, Olympic champions France narrowly beat Croatia 34:32 on Thursday and took the lead in Group I with 4:0 points. Like the record world champions, Austria is still undefeated. The Austrians, the DHB team’s next opponent on Saturday, won against Hungary 30:29 and have 3:1 points.
The “special and emotional duel” for Gislason began with a breakdown. The Icelandic anthem played from the speakers, but it was distorted due to technical problems. On the second attempt it worked and Gislason also sang along. “I’m Icelandic, but I work with the German team and love this team,” the 64-year-old made clear before kick-off.
But his team initially struggled against Iceland’s mobile backcourt players and trailed until the 13th minute. The DHB team also found no means in the initial phase against the robust ex-Kiel player Aron Palmarsson, who was difficult to defend in one-on-one situations.
Germany needed the home crowd, left winger Rune Dahmke called on the crowd to show even more support. The fact that the German team wasn’t even more behind at this point was thanks to goalkeeper Andi Wolff, who kept his team in the game with strong saves. In the 14th minute, the DHB selection took the lead for the first time (6:5) and brought the Cologne cauldron to the boil.
His front men were significantly less focused than Wolff, giving away four attacks in the middle of the first half. EM newcomer Martin Hanne in particular was far too impatient with his shots from the backcourt. “It’s a very unpleasant game because the Icelanders play a very aggressive, offensive defense, which prevents us from flowing the game. What’s missing, of course, is our tempo game. We have to take even more risk in the tempo game,” demanded DHB sports director Axel Kromer for break.
But his speech had no effect. On the contrary, Germany continued as they left off after the restart – with strong reflexes from Wolff and weak throws at the opponent’s goal. Gislason despaired on the sidelines. His expression only improved when right winger Timo Kastening made it 16:14 with some impressive spins.
But the German game remained too disjointed. With 14 minutes to go, Iceland equalized to 16:16 and took the lead again a short time later. Immediately beforehand, playmaker Knorr had missed a seven-meter penalty. The final phase finally became a wild handball thriller. Wolff saved a seven-meter shot shortly before the end when the score was 24:22. And he did the same a little later when the score was 24:23.
“I think he is the best goalkeeper in the world at the moment,” emphasized Gislason. And Wolff said to the Andi chants before the decisive saves: “I was kindly asked to save the seven meters.” He wanted to comply with the request.
Note: This article has been updated with post-game reactions.
