Germany’s handball players took their lap of honor to the party classic “Celebration” after their second convincing European Championship victory. Then the La Ola wave swept through the sold-out Berlin cauldron. The DHB selection further fueled the EM euphoria in their own country and made the early entry into the main round perfect. National coach Alfred Gislason’s team celebrated their second confident preliminary round victory with a 34:25 (18:13) win against outsiders North Macedonia on Sunday in Berlin and further fueled hopes of a successful medal mission.
“It’s crazy what handball Germany is doing here. It’s phenomenal and infectious. We want to win every game,” said Jannik Kohlbacher on ZDF and Nils Lichtlein added: “That’s what you dream about. I hope it continues like this . We’re a cool group.”
In front of Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD), who received whistles from many of the 13,571 spectators during his introduction, playmaker Juri Knorr was the best thrower for the DHB selection with ten goals. Knorr was also named best player of the game. National coach Gislason was satisfied after the game: “We have become more stable. We have to maintain that.” He particularly liked the second half.
At the end of the preliminary round, Germany will face record world champions France on Tuesday. A draw is enough to win the group. The Olympic champion had previously made a mistake in his second preliminary round game and had to settle for a 26:26 draw against Switzerland. “We want to play our game. Even if we top the table, the French are the clear favorites,” said Gislason. Then the DHB team, which dreams of reaching the semi-finals, continues in Cologne.
“It feels like it’s starting again,” DHB sports director Axel Kromer said before kick-off, referring to the unusually long four-day break since the opening win against Switzerland. The national coach, on the other hand, warned of the “unbridled will and emotionality” of the opponent from the Balkans. The concern was unfounded.
Without Kai Häfner, who had just become a father for the second time and who was replaced by U21 world champion Nils Lichtlein in the squad, the DHB team took on the fight brilliantly from the first second. The defense with the inner block duo Johannes Golla and Julian Köster was stable and hardly opened any gaps for North Macedonia. At the same time, Germany successfully exploited its fast-paced counter-attacks via left winger Lukas Mertens and quickly led 5-2.
Gislason had prepared his team excellently for the opponents’ subtleties. In defense, the Balkan team operated with different systems; in offense, the outsiders often relied on the additional seventh man. Coach Kiril Lazarov was the team’s star on the sidelines. The former handball professional is the best thrower in World Cup history and was the first player with over 1,000 European Cup goals. But even he couldn’t prevent the many technical errors his men made.
And although Julian Köster initially missed a few promising chances to score, the German team became more and more intoxicated. In the meantime the lead was seven goals at 16:9. “We played at a great pace,” praised Kromer at half-time and, with a view to the aggressiveness, said: “There’s certainly a bit more that can be done in defense.”
The DHB selection started with a 3-0 run after the break. Goalkeeper David Späth, who replaced the hapless Andreas Wolff between the posts after 22 minutes, shone with several saves and really heated up the sold-out Mercedes-Benz Arena. A few careless mistakes in attack didn’t change that.
Gislason reacted with a timeout, raged and demanded more discipline when the score was 22:17. The Icelander’s speech had an effect and the DHB team extended its lead to seven goals again. Gislason now switched around and gave EM newcomer Martin Hanne and U21 world champion Justus Fischer minutes. Victory was no longer in danger. The German EM festival weeks continue.
