Olympic Games in Paris Group victory: The handball players travel confidently to Lille
© Marcus Brandt/dpa
After the impressive 36:29 (23:14) preliminaries against Slovenia, the German handball players danced a short celebratory dance on the dance floor, and then turned their attention to the hot stage of the Olympic medal fight. “We can’t rest on our laurels. Now the elimination games are coming. You either win or you go home,” said Julian Köster, the quarterback. Thanks to their confident performance against Slovenia, the DHB national team won the group 8:2, and on Wednesday they will play against the European champions France in the quarter-finals. Group B qualified for the elimination round in fourth place with its 24:20 victory over the previously weak Olympic host Hungary. “We travel to Lille with confidence,” said captain Johannes Golla before the clash with the 2021 Olympic champions. In the fourth victory against Slovenia in the fifth tournament, the old Kai Häfner was the best thrower with seven goals for national team coach Alfred Gislason, who gave an excellent interim report to his proteges. “The team has become very united and is growing with every game. I am satisfied with the performance of all the players. The boys concentrated extremely well in the preliminary round,” praised the 64-year-old Icelander. The German Olympic team will move to Lille on Monday. The DHB women are already there and they want to create a sensation against world champions France on Tuesday. The knockout matches are played at the OSC Lille football facility in front of 27,000 spectators. “Now is the time to enjoy the village and have fun playing handball,” said Golla. With the thriller against the Spaniards, the men of DHB already secured their early entry into the quarter-finals in the fourth game. Nevertheless, Gislason then warned against starting the duel with Slovenia with only half strength. “Because you often can’t turn the switch back on afterwards,” said the coach of the national team. Wolff stops and complains His team only struggled against the Slovenians in the early stages. Juri Knorr’s passes were a bit inaccurate. The opposition used the German defense’s easy ball wins and jumps to score many goals from beyond the circle. Goalkeeper Andreas Wolff was unhappy with his attacking performance and complained after almost every goal conceded. His spirits improved when Germany went on a 7-0 run and pulled away, thanks in part to Wolff’s save. As if out of nowhere, the Slovenians made one mistake after another. The Gislason team gratefully accepted the invitations and set the course for victory in this phase. Especially Häfner, who will end his career in the national jersey after the matches, performed ice-cold in front of the opponent’s goal. The giants of the backcourt, Köster (4 goals) and Sebastian Heymann (6) also presented their best tournament victory so far. Everyone can try Gislason for load management purposes. The excellent goalkeeper against Spain, David Späth, came on as a substitute and regularly cheered on the German fans traveling with him with remarkable parades. The left winger, Rune Dahmke, and the recovered player, Jannik Kohlbacher, also collected action minutes. The young star Marko Grgic (20) was almost always reliable from the seven-meter mark. As Gislason’s selection ended up being too hasty, Slovenia moved a little closer. Nevertheless, the German team, relatively inexperienced on the Olympic stage, was impressed by these summer games. In this state, anything is possible to select a DHB. date #Things
- Slovenia
- Group victory
- Paris
- Lille
- Olympic Games
- Deutschland
- France
- DHB
- Alfred Gislason
- Julian Koster
- Olympia
- Johannes Golla
- Kai Häfner
- Spain
- Andreas Wolff
- Hungary