Alfred Gislason sadly said goodbye to the long summer break after the redeeming sense of achievement of the German handball team against Spain, third in the World Cup. Instead of further advancing the DHB selection on the way to the home European Championship in 2024, the national coach is doomed to inactivity for the next six months. “What should I do? I can’t do anything,” the 63-year-old Icelander complained about the involuntary time-out after the 32:31 (20:11) duel with the European Championship runner-up in Berlin.
The convincing performance in front of 8204 spectators in the sold-out Max-Schmeling-Halle, with which the DHB team generated some euphoria after the recent bankruptcies against European champions Sweden and world champion Denmark, should be seen again in autumn at the start of the hot EM preparatory phase can only be a nice memory.
After all, the first win in the sixth and last game of the Euro Cup gives some peace. “It’s just good for us because we’ve also noticed that some in the background doubt whether the path we’re taking is the right one,” said DHB sports director Axel Kromer.
“A Little Tailwind”
You always have to question everything. “But it is clear that with the win against Spain we now have a bit of tailwind to bridge the long break of the national team. We will step on the gas again in November.”
Then the time for experiments is over. “From the next course, nothing will be tested anymore, it’s just a matter of getting used to it,” announced Gislason. The games against the top teams in world handball once again made one thing clear to him: “We saw how far we are from the world’s best in terms of squad width.”
The German team can currently only keep up with the top teams with their top seven in full. If the service providers get a breather or even drop out, this is at the expense of quality because there are no adequate alternatives.
Knorr outstanding
The outstanding Juri Knorr, the top scorer with 13 goals, gave himself and his teammates some homework for the long break. “The key for us will be that everyone gets better. We have to step on the gas in the club, get better and fight for our place in this team first. Then we can achieve something at the home tournament,” said the 22-year-old director. The role of the DHB team in the EM is clear to him: “I see us as the underdog.”
The success against the Spaniards doesn’t change that, even if it put the young team in a high mood. “It’s nice to have won again. It’s been a long time since we’ve managed to do that against a big team that has won medals in recent years. That’s why this win is of course extremely good,” said Knorr.
The again strong goalkeeper Andreas Wolff evaluated the result in a similar way. “I think we’ve seen that if we pull together, we’re quite capable of keeping up with the top four,” said the 32-year-old. And Gislason emphasized: “The win was important for the head – both for the boys and for me.”
On May 10th, the national coach and his protégés will find out at the draw in Düsseldorf who they will meet in the preliminary round at the European Championships from January 10th to 28th next year. Then Gislason can at least prepare the finals on the drawing board. And so the Icelander emphasized when he said goodbye: “I’ll find something to do with myself.”
