One team, two faces: The German handball players showed two very different international performances within three days. On Thursday, at 42:31 in Nuremberg, national coach Alfred Gislason’s team quickly swept past their friendly opponents Iceland. The Scandinavians, who are among the world’s best in handball, had no chance whatsoever. The Germans impressed with their speed, enthusiasm and very good use of opportunities.
On Sunday in Munich, at the German team’s first international match in the SAP Garden, there was a completely different picture in front of 10,299 spectators: The DHB team started well, but had a much more flawed performance over 60 minutes. In particular, there wasn’t much to be seen of the compelling fast-paced game that had resulted in many uncomplicated goals in the first game. The exploitation of opportunities also remained poor. “The things that made us strong three days ago didn’t work so well today,” said captain Johannes Golla.
In the end, Iceland won the second meeting 31:29 (15:16), which is not a drama in a test match ten weeks before the European Championships; However, Gislason has seen what still needs to be worked on before the start of the European Championship tournament in Denmark, Sweden and Norway. The German team still has two tests ahead of them, their opponents in January will be Croatia. The team then travels to the preliminary round in Herning, Denmark, where a tough group awaits.