Frustration instead of celebration at the end of an atmospheric European Championship: Germany’s handball players were unable to crown the home tournament with their first international medal since Olympic bronze in 2016 and missed the direct ticket to the Summer Games in Paris.
National coach Alfred Gislason’s team lost the small final against record European champions Sweden 31:34 (12:18) on Sunday in front of 19,750 spectators in Cologne, including Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, and finished fourth, as they did last at the home World Cup 2019 was empty.
Eight years after the European Championship triumph in Poland, the DHB selection, for which U21 world champion Renars Uscins was the best thrower with eight goals, quietly reached the top of the world by reaching the semi-finals. But compared to world champions Denmark and Olympic champions France, who then played for European Championship gold, as well as the Swedes, the young team is still a bit lacking.
Due to the defeat, national coach Gislason, who took over the position from Christian Prokop in February 2020 and whose contract expires in the summer, is still waiting for his first big success.
There was a cheering atmosphere in the stands before kick-off as goalkeeper Andreas Wolff and playmaker Juri Knorr were honored for their selection into the tournament’s all-star team. But Knorr still seemed to have the 26:29 loss in the semi-final against Denmark hanging around in his head. The 23-year-old from cup winners Rhein-Neckar Löwen was unable to give any impetus to the attacking game and made four missed throws in the first 15 minutes.
After a break, Gislason switched in the backcourt. Sebastian Heymann and Kai Häfner, who was missing against Denmark for personal reasons, also came into play. But there was still little going on in the attack. In addition, the German players repeatedly failed because of Sweden’s goalkeeper Andreas Palicka, who once played in the Bundesliga for THW Kiel and Rhein-Neckar Löwen for many years.
The DHB team came out of the locker room with momentum, but initially couldn’t reduce the deficit. The German team repeatedly slowed themselves down through their own mistakes, which drove Gislason to despair on the sidelines.
But then his protégés pulled themselves together again. At 21:24 (43rd) the turnaround seemed possible. Wolff became increasingly stronger in goal and Knorr finally sparked up front. The audience pushed the team even further. A good six minutes before the end, Germany was up 29:30. Despite a great fight, it was no longer enough to win.
