analyse
As of: January 18, 2025 2:30 a.m
The German handball players are in the main round of the World Cup early – but they can’t get rid of their problems. They have a particularly big one with big opponents – even in the shock victory over Switzerland.
The DHB team actually wanted to learn something from the last two test games before this tournament against Brazil. Full concentration in the first half, consistency in taking advantage of opportunities so that you don’t have to rely on a strong final spurt every time – these were the things that coach Alfred Gislason and his always very self-critical players wanted to take with them to Denmark. At the start against the Poles it worked: nothing. It was only with an enormous improvement in the final quarter of an hour that the ultimately clear 35:28 victory was achieved.
Wolff was the rescuer with 20 saves
Captain Johannes Golla and Co. really wanted to internalize this as a warning for the second tournament game against Switzerland. But everything got worse. The 31:29 thriller required an extraordinary performance from goalkeeper Andreas Wolff (20 saves), which brought the Swiss coach Andy Schmid to the conclusion: “We only failed because of one man. He was in the German goal.”
Otherwise the groundhog said hello: completely overslept at the start, hyper-nervousness in the finishes, zero access in defense – especially against Lenny Rubin. The 2.05-meter giant scored seven goals, took two seven-meter penalties and also contributed many clever passes.
Even with this problem, there was no learning effect in the German team. Against the Poles, Kamil Syprzak’s defense couldn’t get it under control; the man measures 2.07 meters.
-Klein sees “doubles” as a recipe
Far too often there was only one covering player standing alone against these elemental forces of handball, which ARD expert Dominik Klein does not find sufficient: “You have to double up in defense. Otherwise these players will drain so much energy from your body, it’s like a battery that’s going empty. There needs to be a lot better coordination in the middle block when such giants come at you.”
The sports show spoke to Johannes Golla and Alfred Gislason about the problem. The coach admits: “On the one hand, we were far too slow in running back. We conceded seven or eight goals due to a fast Swiss center. The other problem was actually that we hardly blocked any balls in the defensive center.”
Golla: “We don’t yet have blind understanding”
Golla admits: “It’s true that we still have to get a lot better at it. We don’t have that blind understanding at the moment, the handovers don’t work as well as they did at the Olympic Games. Julian was missing for a long time in the autumn due to his injury, and that’s noticeable the fine-tuning between the two of us. But that will come.”
Julian Köster, who suffered a torn medial ligament in his knee in September, actually didn’t even play in the game against the Swiss. But he didn’t let himself down, never lost confidence in his abilities, always got up and in the end shone with great courage on the offensive – and became the best German shooter with seven goals.
Relief from Kastening, Mertens and Knorr
In this phase, the much smaller colleagues like Timo Kastening and Lukas Mertens, who won crucial balls, relieved him in defense. Juri Knorr also helped out well defensively at the end. Maybe that’s an approach for the next games, maybe that’s how the hoped-for learning effect will come about.
Because the Czechs, who are waiting for the DHB team on Sunday (January 19, 2025, 6 p.m., live on Erste and on sportschau.de), also have a 2.02 meter giant in the center with Štěpán Zeman. And for the Danes, who they are up against in the main round, Simon Hald, for example, greets from a height of 2.03 meters.
