Handball: German national team starts successfully in the European Championship with a 30:27 win against Austria

It is good practice for the German Handball Association (DHB) to organize a so-called Media Day shortly before the start of a major tournament. Participation is mandatory for all national players at this event, which not only arouses enthusiasm among the athletes. So Marko Grgic wanted to bring a little fun to the event.

The 22-year-old grabbed a microphone and “got on his colleagues’ nerves,” as he said, which can be seen in a small film on the DHB’s social media channel. Grgic annoyed Rune Dahmke, upset David Späth during an interview, explained to Juri Knorr that he spoke far too quietly, and made captain Johannes Golla realize that it was his “most innumerable media day”. There was only one person Grgic didn’t want to meet, out of self-protection, as he added: goalkeeper Andreas Wolff. It’s better not to get on his nerves.

You can imagine how the Austrian throwers must have felt in their 27:30 defeat at the start of the European Championship when they faced this 1.98 meter tall guy with his muscular upper arms. The 34-year-old Wolff not only has a cross the size of a closet, he also has lightning-fast reflexes and enormous agility that allows him to fend off balls with his foot far above his head. Especially with this typical parade, the splits while standing, he gained respect from the Austrians, who often seemed to think twice about taking the throw. Wolff was the decisive player in Germany’s victory in the first group game in Herning, Denmark, which was not a brilliant performance overall, but at least a successful start to the European Championship against an unpleasant opponent.

Coach Alfred Gislason had called for “relaxation” before the game: The players should enjoy being together, because the DHB has stated that it plans to attend the tournament until its end if possible. Apparently it was too relaxed for one person, especially since the players almost all know each other – across teams. Six Austrians are regulars in the Bundesliga: Elias Kofler from HSV Hamburg and Lukas Herburger from champions Füchse Berlin are tough defenders, Jakob Nigg from TVB Stuttgart was the second best shooter with six goals, goalkeeper Constantin Möstl and playmaker Lukas Hutecek play for the Bundesliga third-placed TBV Lemgo and are significantly involved in their surprising upswing. Finally, Nikola Bilyk plays with Wolff for THW Kiel, and the German goalkeeper obviously didn’t want it to be quite as peaceful and harmonious.

Wolff is outstanding, things are not going so well for deputy Späth

In any case, shortly before the game, Wolff described the Austrians as having unattractive “anti-handball that no one wants to see”. That was a small verbal throwback to old times, when Wolff was still driven by his huge ambition, when he wanted to win games to zero – and underlined this attitude with a snappy expression. He always put immense pressure on himself and failures affected him so much that he sought help from a sports psychologist. After that he was noticeably more relaxed, now he’s a father, he’s matured and he accepts bad performances – but apparently not against Austria.

His statement activated the last bit of motivation in the opponent, as his counterpart Constantin Möstl, who also put in a very strong performance, noted before the game. The Austrians showed that – as well as what Wolff meant with his criticism. After the quick 1:4 deficit, Austria’s coach Iker Romero, world champion in 2005, took his keeper Möstl off the field and brought on the seventh field player. This is his preferred means of throwing a seemingly superior opponent out of rhythm. From then on, the Austrians slowed down the game and played long attacks, which cost the opponent nerves and required patience, but the German defense was capable of doing so.

Gislason’s move to take two defense specialists with him to Herning in Tom Kiesler and Matthes Langhoff proved to be the right one for his tournament debut. The Icelander has carefully analyzed recent tournaments and realized that a medal will only be achievable with outstanding defense. That’s why he made a kind of paradigm shift: Until now, Gislason had consistently avoided such specialists and only nominated players who could be used flexibly. Against Austria, however, it was Kiesler and Langhoff who gave the defense additional toughness, and they also gave the set defenders Johannes Golla and Julian Köster breaks – and thus resources for the attack.

Captain Golla was the best scorer with seven goals and was named “Man Of The Match”. Köster, who scored three goals, set important offensive accents in tricky situations. And there were a few of them. Although the Germans dominated the game for the most part, they were ahead 12:8 at the break and sometimes had five goals, but in the final phase the never-giving-up opponent closed the DHB team to within two goals. Also because Germany missed many opportunities in attack, which Gislason clearly addressed: “We made too many mistakes, sometimes not hitting the empty goal, so we really have to improve.” In fact, the ball flew past the Austrians’ empty box several times; the tactical move by the seventh field player is known to carry the risk of a missed goal. Even Wolff missed what was supposed to be the easiest target on the field. So at the score of 27:25 it actually got tight again.

Goalkeeping coach Mattias Andersson has to reassure the national coach

When Sebastian Frimmel, the best thrower of the game with nine goals, finally went for the seven-meter penalty two minutes before the end, it was left to Wolff to finally break the resistance of his stubborn neighbor with another save near the head. In doing so, he also provided proof that the German team’s success can only be guaranteed with a functioning goalkeeper duo.

And to achieve this, David Späth still has to improve enormously. When King Wolff received a ball from Frimmel in his left eye and had to go to the bench for treatment, Crown Prince Späth came into the box. But the 23-year-old couldn’t find his way into the game at all, conceding five goals from five throws in a very short space of time. Gislason had imagined it differently, he performed a St. Vitus dance in anger on the sidelines until goalkeeper coach Mattias Andersson was able to calm him down with difficulty. In any case, it remained a short appearance, which Späth noted with frustration. He said he hadn’t done much wrong and just wanted to move forward.

But Gislason doesn’t have to worry too much about the self-confident young goalkeeper of the Rhein-Neckar Löwen, he knows that: “David has continuously improved. A huge talent has become a world-class goalkeeper.” The highly praised man has proven this often enough, for example when he won the Olympic silver medal. The career prediction for Späth is that he will “one day be the best goalkeeper in the world” – it comes from none other than teammate Wolff.