After the highest international victory in history, Germany’s handball players were celebrated by the fans for their flawless European Championship qualification and the successful dress rehearsal for the upcoming Olympic qualification. The team of national coach Markus Gaugisch achieved an effortless 46:9 (23:4) against Israel in Heidelberg and thus their sixth win in their sixth game.
“Basically, our goal was to try a lot again. Of course it’s cool when something so historic comes out of it,” said co-captain Emily Bölk. The highest international success to date was the 45:12 against Paraguay at the 2007 World Cup.
Gaugisch also drew a satisfied conclusion. “The team delivered seriously. Without sounding arrogant: it was clear that we would win the game. It is also a quality to pull off something like that,” praised the national coach.
Xenia Smits: “A step in the right direction”
The best German throwers in the record victory in front of 1,121 spectators were backcourt player Xenia Smits with seven goals as well as Julia Maidhof and Meret Ossenkopp (both 5). “I think the record wasn’t our goal. But we did a good job of doing the things we set out to do. It was a step in the right direction,” said Smits.
The DHB selection, which had already been declared group winners, finished qualifying for the European Championship finals from November 28th to December 15th in Hungary, Austria and Switzerland with 12:0 points and is now heading to Neu-Ulm with a lot of tailwind .
Starting on Thursday, there will be a four-way tournament with Slovenia, Montenegro and Paraguay for a ticket to the Summer Games in Paris. It would be the first Olympic participation for the DHB women since 2008 in Beijing. “We can go there with a good feeling,” said Gaugisch.
Bölk honored as “Handball Player of the Year”.
Similar to the clear 35:12 the day before, the German team also dominated the second duel with Israel from the start, although the national coach initially spared some top performers. Bölk, who was honored as “Handball Player of the Year” before kick-off, sat on the bench in the first half, just like Smits.
Both only came onto the floor after the substitution, when the one-sided game had long since been decided. Nevertheless, the sixth place in the World Cup remained focused and continuously expanded his lead. In the end there was another record: the DHB team had never scored 46 goals in an international match before.
