National coach Alfred Gislason rocked his head back and forth a little and didn’t really know how to rate his handball players’ ultimately successful start to the year.
Only a few seconds before the end of the game, goalkeeper Andreas Wolff secured a 34:33 (18:14) victory against Portugal with a parade for the selection of the German Handball Federation (DHB) in Flensburg.
Six days before the opening game of the home European Championship, the hosts revealed a few weak points, but also had two winners in debutant Martin Hanne and the also young Renars Uscins.
“We should have led higher at halftime,” complained the national coach on ARD. He was “very dissatisfied” with the start of the second half, where “we completely lost track of things straight after the break and made a lot of mistakes.” But the 62-year-old Icelander also had praise to share, especially for Uscins, who is only 21, and for newcomer Hanne, who scored five goals in his first international match. “These two played very well,” said Gislason, “it’s great that these two young people come in and perform well. That gives us more security across the board.”
“A good horse only jumps as high as it has to”
Goalkeeper Wolff also saw potential for improvement in the German game. “That’s what test games are for, we’ve also tried one or the other. It’s quite logical that it doesn’t work perfectly yet,” said the 32-year-old European champion from 2016. But we still have a few training sessions before the start of the European Championships on Saturday (6 p.m./ARD) in Kiel the European Championship dress rehearsal again against Portugal.
“We will work on one or two things in the analysis and then make them better again,” said Wolff and, after the narrow success, gave a conciliatory assessment: “A good horse only jumps as high as it has to. Last ball held, we won – If we do every European Championship game like that, it’s okay too.”
After the dress rehearsal, the handball entourage moves to North Rhine-Westphalia, where the opening duel with Switzerland will take place on January 10th. Other opponents in the preliminary round at the home tournament from January 10th to 28th are outsiders North Macedonia and co-favorites France.
Gislason relies on experience in the starting lineup
After Marian Michalczik’s injury, Gislason went into immediate preparation for the European Championship with an 18-man squad. In the starting line-up against Portugal, the Icelander relied on experience and sent veterans onto the field in Andreas Wolff, Johannes Golla and Juri Knorr. The U21 world champions around Nils Lichtlein were initially left behind. The decision was right.
The initial phase belonged to the German defense. The retreat against the Portuguese’s fast-paced game worked and the middle block was around Köster, so that the guests hardly found any gaps to the goal. It took six minutes for the Portuguese to score their first goal and reduce the score to 1:3.
In the attacking game, playmaker and leading figure Knorr took responsibility. The 23-year-old from the Rhein-Neckar Löwen made a significant contribution to the 13-7 lead with lightning-fast throws and impressive passes to outside player Timo Kastening. Wolff showed a decent performance in goal after his slipped disc and short comeback in January.
DHB team unfocused after the break
Germany had the game under control and Gislason gave his regular players a break. When debutant Martin Hanne came into the game for left winger Lukas Mertens and scored his first international goal with the first throw, the Flensburg Campus Hall celebrated. The DHB team seemed well-coordinated, even if the lead at the break could have been higher.
After the break, the German squad acted without concentration. Hits on the post and bad passes brought the Portuguese back into the game, reducing the score to 20:22. Gislason, who complained about too little movement in the German game, took an early break.
Then things got really tricky for the DHB team, who suddenly found themselves twice as outnumbered, only one goal ahead. However, thanks to another goal from newcomer Hanne, Germany survived this delicate phase unscathed and then increased their lead again to four goals (28:24). In the end it got close again and the gaps in the defense got bigger and bigger. The DHB team saved the narrow victory over time.
