Kai Häfner had not yet finished his tirade of insults when Timo Kastening started his motivational speech for the nerve-racking game between the German handball players against Hungary.
“We’re not allowed to sit in the room and cry now. Anyone who’s moping now can go straight home. Now we’ll see who can handle pressure,” said the right winger before the duel on Monday (8.30 p.m. / ZDF and Dyn ). Kastening said: “Situations like this make a man out of you.”
After the 22:22 against the still unbeaten Austrians, the DHB selection is dependent on support in the fight for the European Championship semi-finals – and needs a massive increase in attacking play. “Complete catastrophe,” said Häfner about the multitude of missed throws and technical errors: “We all did shit today.” Only 22 of 54 shots ended up in the Austrian goal.
Now the calculation begins
There are still ten possible constellations as to how the DHB team can make it to the semi-finals. The easiest way looks like this: Germany wins the final main round games against Hungary on Monday and against Croatia on Wednesday and Austria loses to Olympic champions France or Iceland. “It’s not a path for losers, we have to take it. We need every man for that,” demanded playmaker Juri Knorr.
Germany is in fourth place in its group of six behind record world champions France, Hungary and the ÖHB selection. “Now what we wanted to avoid has happened,” complained Kastening: “This shitty calculation of what happens if…”
The reduced line-up of the media panel on Sunday made it clear how explosive the starting situation is for Germany’s handball players. Instead of several players, only Axel Kromer was present this time. The DHB sports director asked for your understanding. “The follow-up work for the boys was very long yesterday. Nobody could really get to bed because things didn’t go as hoped,” said Kromer. Video analyses, tactical discussions and lots of regeneration are now more important for the team.
Gislason: The team has dug in
Germany’s mission has not changed even after the embarrassing performance against Austria. “We want to get to the semi-finals and will not postpone our goal,” said Kromer. But Hungary does not forgive any usury of opportunities. “If we continue to play like this in attack and waste our chances, we will not win against Hungary or Croatia. The team kept digging in. We had ourselves to blame for the misery,” criticized national coach Alfred Gislason.
After the final whistle, captain Johannes Golla spoke of a “huge disappointment and a wasted day”. In the background, elated Austrians cheered about their next European Championship coup. “We’re flying and nothing can bring us down. It’s really unbelievable,” said the outstanding goalkeeper Constantin Möstl.
The fact that they actually should have won the game against the DHB selection after a four-goal lead in the meantime hardly dampened their euphoria. “We are currently writing history for Austrian handball,” said backcourt ace Mykola Bilyk and spoke of a boom at home.
A good Andi Wolff is not enough
The DHB selection also wants to ignite this boom at the home European Championships. “So far we have been carried by the euphoria. I hope that there won’t be a huge drop-off now and that the fans will continue to believe in the team and, above all, the team believes in itself,” said Kromer.
Against the Hungarians, who can go into the game against Germany with confidence after the 29:26 win over Croatia, the DHB selection needs a strong Andreas Wolff again. With 14 saves, the goalkeeper was once again the best German player against Austria. “Hungary has great pivots and extreme throwing power from the backcourt. That’s why we have to continue to be good in defense, we need Andi Wolff in top form again and we have to finish better up front,” summarized Gislason.
The defense was also convincing against Austria. However, the DHB selection was unable to profit from the good defense. “It’s certainly a big drawback that we’ve had to do without our fast-paced game for two games. These are the supposedly easy goals,” said Kromer.
Where does this sudden weakness come from? “We seem unsettled in front of the opponent’s goal, and at some point it’s a matter of the head. We have to get our heads up again,” demanded Golla, before adding after a short break: “Getting our heads up isn’t enough. We just have to play better handball.”
