The German national handball team returns from the World Cup in Poland and Sweden with a top placing – and much more: “I’m very proud of fifth place, but above all of the way the team did it here It’s a huge success for us,” praised national coach Alfred Gislason after the 28:24 (16:13) win against Norway and added: “Many youngsters came as talented players and are returning as internationally good and recognized players. “
This is particularly valuable with a view to the home European Championship next year and good news after complicated years: the DHB team finished the 2021 World Cup in twelfth place, the worst position in the long history of the largest handball association in the world . Now you are slowly working your way back to the top of the world, fifth place behind the currently untouchable quartet with world champion Denmark, record world champion France, Sweden and Spain is the best of what is currently possible. Now you want to take the next step in the coming months.
“Everyone has the potential to become great players,” said the 31-year-old. “But there is still a lack of experience at the absolute top level. That was the decisive factor today. If we grow together a little more and gain a little more experience against opponents at this level,” said world-class keeper Andreas Wolff after the quarter-final defeat by France, “luck will soon be with us for 60 minutes.” The German team, which gained seven wins and a lot of experience in nine games within 16 days, in the World Cup review:
Andreas Wolff: Germany’s way back to the medal games only leads to an Andreas Wolff in top form. In the days of Poland and at the end of the placement games in Sweden, the 31-year-old presented himself as an absolute world-class goalkeeper for the first time since the outstanding year 2016 with the European title and Olympic bronze over an entire tournament. Except for a weak half-time against Serbia, always at least as strong as a bear, then outstanding in the big games. The nomination for the tournament’s all-star team is well deserved, and the performances are impressive confirmation of his new course: Wolff, who used to be slightly toxic and ambitious, channeled a new composure, developed with professional help, into a tremendous quality for the team on the Way back to the top of the world.
Joel Birlehm: Due to his strong form in the last few weeks before the World Cup, the young goalkeeper of the Rhein-Neckar Löwen was surprisingly preferred to Till Klimpke as number two in the German tour. When Wolff, proclaimed by national coach Alfred Gislason as the clear number one, could hardly get a hand on the ball in the important preliminary round game against Serbia, Birlehm jumped into the breach – and “saved our ass”, as playmaker Juri Knorr ennobled his goalkeeper. With numerous saves, even against free throws, he captured two points in the last few minutes that were worth their weight in gold for his team in the main round. In the further course of the tournament, however, Birlehm was no longer a factor: the 22-year-old was allowed to start against Norway in the important main round final, but had to give way again after just under ten minutes without a save. Andreas Wolff simply gave no reason to change.
Lukas Mertens: SC Magdeburg’s left winger is one of the winners of this World Cup. The 26-year-old scored reliably in his first “real” tournament – after the EM 2022 had already ended for him after two games due to the corona. Mertens delivered his World Cup-level masterpiece against Serbia as he became another top decision-maker on the DHB team with seven goals in seven tries (and a great Kempa play on Christoph Steinert). After the resignation of long-time captain Uwe Gensheimer in the national team, no player could settle on left wing, the World Cup could mark the beginning of an era for Mertens in the DHB team.
Rune Dahmke: The left winger brought a little of the spirit of the sensational European champions of 2016 into the squad, but not much more. The experienced player from Kiel was the clear number two on the left wing, sometimes Dahmke was only allowed to take off his training jacket when his partner Lukas Mertens had to serve a two-minute penalty or take a breather. When he was nominated, he also benefited from the fact that Marcel Schiller did not get back into shape for the World Cup in time after his injury – at least that’s how the national coach saw it.
Julian Köster: Perhaps some had too high expectations of Julian Köster: At last year’s European Championships, the then second division player surprisingly and unexpectedly took on a lot of responsibility in defense and attack – and delivered well. The 22-year-old is now playing his first Bundesliga season with VfL Gummersbach and went to the World Cup as the DHB team’s great hope. In defense, the 2-meter giant played well with mostly strong performances in the German middle block alongside Johannes Golla. Offensively, however, Köster clearly lost his penetrating power as the tournament progressed, the backcourt player made wrong throwing decisions too often and made too many slight mistakes, especially against the international heavyweights.
No wonder, the self-sacrificing defense takes a lot of strength, which then eventually lacks in front. Against Egypt, when the German team was slipping away from a game they thought they had already won, Köster pulled himself together again for an energetic performance, took responsibility – and scored important goals several times. Köster is now an indispensable part of the DHB team, he is already too strong in defense. The rest is part of a learning process on the way to the home World Cup.
Paul Drux: One of the few in the DHB team who has already traveled to the World Cup with a lot of experience. And one of those who, at least individually, hardly brings any other positive experiences home with them. The Berliner, whose 1-on-1 game is so incomparable and should bring a very special facet to the German attacking game, hardly played a role on the offensive. Defensively, Drux showed unusual weaknesses in his half position. The 27-year-old missed the main round match against Norway because of a cold, and it obviously made a top game impossible for him in the high-intensity quarter-finals.
Philipp Weber: The player from Magdeburg mostly had to give up the playmaker in the past tournaments because there simply hadn’t been a world-class specialist in the center backcourt for ages. The meritorious Weber usually did that more than passably, in many players the 30-year-old was a guarantee of success for the DHB team simply because of his great penetrating power and high-speed breakthroughs. But now the veteran, who plays almost exclusively in the left backcourt in the club and no longer played in the middle in Poland and Sweden, could no longer convince. On the contrary: only eight goals in nine games, numerous offensive fouls and an unusually large number of errors meant that Weber was unable to advertise himself when the backcourt urgently needed help.
Lukas Stutzke: The backcourt player from Bergisches HC was allowed to join the team for the last two games because Paul Drux had to return home early due to a cold. Stutzke scored once in the wild 35:34 against Egypt and three times against Norway. Meritorious, but the 25-year-old should not play a major role in the DHB team with regard to the home EM. Especially when Julius Kühne, a powerful shooter, joins the team after a long injury in the foreseeable future. In addition, Sebastian Heymann, who was out for a long time with a torn cruciate ligament, will soon knock on the door to the national team again.
Juri Knorr: From a German perspective, the winner of the World Cup – and a win for German handball. The young backcourt player should fulfill Germany’s longing for a playmaker at absolute world class level within a very short period of time. Knorr already structured the German game in his first World Cup in a leading position, and the interaction with the pivots sometimes worked at the highest level. The goal threat that the director radiates is worth its weight in gold for the German backcourt. Accordingly, a lot of praise was poured out over the young man, whose refusal to vaccinate before the EM 2022 had caused great outrage: the World Association voted the German the best young player in the World Cup.
Sometimes Knorr needed too long to say goodbye to plan A or to calm down the German game in the right place. These are experiences that Knorr was able to gain this time. At the home EM 2024, the gifted will be able to fall back on them – at least that’s the hope.
Luca Witzke: A slip in the last Bundesliga game before the World Cup caused a moment of shock for Luca Witzke and his national coach: the SC DHfK Leipzig playmaker had to leave the field in pain in Berlin. But the all-clear was given quickly and Witzke showed that this was good news during the tournament when he came on the plate: At least solid as a representative of Juri Knorr on the offensive, reliable on the defensive – even if the Leipzig player was far away away is becoming a specialist. But the national coach doesn’t overestimate them anyway. A positive surprise of the tournament from a German point of view.
Simon Ernst: Simon Ernst’s greatest achievement is his lifetime achievement in sport: the 2016 European champion tore the cruciate ligament in his right knee three times, and the backcourt player always fought back. In the meantime, the end of their career threatened, many would have given up. Ernst, however, fought his way back into the national team, where he was supposed to help, especially in defence, to reach the minimum target of the quarter-finals. In his part-time assignments, the Leipziger worked solidly, but was never able to develop a dominant position in the German defense. Offensively, that was clear in advance and never planned otherwise, Ernst wasn’t a factor.
Kai Häfner: Seven years ago, Kai Häfner became a German handball legend within a few days: due to an injury to Steffen Weinhold, the left-hander had to be ordered from the sofa to the European Championship squad, then scored in the semifinals seconds before the end of extra time to win against Norway and almost single-handedly beat Spain in the final together with Andreas Wolff. The return to Poland was now much less legendary for the Melsunger: when it came down to it, Häfner brought neither his great experience nor his tremendous attacking qualities to the field. Only in the game for place did the 33-year-old deliver a strong performance without compromise: five goals in five attempts ensured a positive conclusion. Nevertheless: Evergreen Häfner, who has been holding his bones for years and is one of those in the squad that the national coach could always count on, will be dissatisfied with his own World Cup trip.
Christoph Steinert: The national coach appreciates Christoph Steinert for his versatility: the man from Erlangen can play defense and attack, in an emergency the backcourt player can also switch to right wing. The latter allowed Gislason another personnel option because he could do without a trained right winger. That makes Steinert enormously valuable, even if he only played a small role in the offensive at the World Cup. If he decides to throw, he usually hits: 80 percent is a strong hit rate. In the positional attack, however, the Erlangen player rarely developed the really big danger.
Djibril M’Bengue: When the German backcourt disintegrated first in the main round final against Norway and then in the quarterfinals against France, Djibril M’Bengue was part of the problem. Against Norway he missed three big chances in the group game, against France he introduced himself with an expensive loss of possession. If the game runs, M’Bengue can fit in at a good level and give colleagues breaks. If he comes off the bench to turn a complicated game, to provide a new impetus or important goals, it’s just not enough at the level that the DHB team finally wants to achieve again.
With Fabian Wiede, who had canceled the World Cup due to an operation and his marriage and thus unmistakably caused displeasure in Gislason and also in parts of the team, the national coach probably has another player with tremendous playing quality available on the way to the European Championship in 2024. Should Gislason open the door for the Berliner again, it will increase the quality in the German backfield – in the top and in the width.
Patrick Groetzki: For a long, long time, Patrick Groetzki, whom the national coach had attested “in the best shape of his life” before the World Cup, impressed with his high level of efficiency. The national coach’s confidence in Germany’s World Cup record player was so great that he did without a trained representative in the final squad of 16 and trusted his veteran to carry almost the entire load on the right winger. But it was in the big games against Norway (in the main round) and even more so against France that Groetzki showed his weakest tournament performance: two goals in four attempts against the Scandinavians, two out of six only in the quarterfinals.
Lukas Zerbe: The right winger of TBV Lemgo-Lippe, who will play for the record champions THW Kiel from the summer, was dropped from the World Cup squad by Alfred Gislason shortly before the start of the World Cup, but he still came in the last two games for use. A goal from three attempts against Egypt and Norway was not an impressive proof of work. If Timo Kastening, who was one of the top performers in the DHB team before his cruciate ligament rupture, returns shortly, Zerbe will have to fight for a place in the EM squad at least with Patrick Groetzki.
Johannes Golla: World class as a line runner, as a defender and as a captain: Handball Germany can be happy to have Johannes Golla. After the bitter quarter-final defeat against the ripped-off French, Flensburg was the first to disappoint and claim fifth place as a worthwhile goal. After the badly shattered game against Egypt, in which there was a complete system crash in the German game on the way to 5th place with an 8-goal lead, Golla found hard words: “It’s frightening what happens in the end, after victory that was believed to be certain,” said the leader after the 35:34 after extra time. “It has to be clearly addressed what happened there. If you want to play at the top level, something like that shouldn’t happen.”
Against Norway, when the course for the further course of the tournament was to be set in the main round final, the reliable captain of all people blundered, atypically missed three free throws – and then made impressive progress with the great intention of increasing efficiency. Golla then sunk 100 percent of his throws against record world champions France: six hits in six attempts. What the 25-year-old does for the German game can be measured in numbers: Golla worked 4:10 hours in the six games up to the quarter-finals on the field – more than anyone else. Even goalkeeper Andreas Wolff only managed 4:07 hours. By the end of the tournament, Golla had clocked 6:57.
Even after the games, Golla stood in front of the journalists’ microphones until the last second to talk about Germany’s handball. An example. With a view to the home World Cup, the main thing is that Golla continues to grow together with Julian Köster in the middle block: At the highest level, the bulwark still had too many weak points.
Jannik Kohlbacher: A ten-goal gala against Argentina, a remarkable interaction as an offensive axis with Juri Knorr and then just this unique agility: Jannik Kohlbacher reported back to the DHB team after recurring injury worries as if he had never been away. The European champion is one of the few players in the squad who was able to replace a regular player in his position almost equally – even if it wasn’t enough for another gala against the really big opponents.
Nevertheless, things could get tight for Kohlbacher with regard to the home EM – if Hendrik Pekeler, who is currently pausing, decides to return to the DHB team. “Some of our problems in defense are obvious,” said Gislason. With Johannes Golla and Jannik Kohlbacher he has “very, very great circle runners”, but “only one plays in the inner block. The French have three great circle runners and they all cover in the inner block. Pekeler can do both, he is one of the world’s best in defense and attack “.
Tim Zechel: “In order to have more tactical options,” the DHB announced, Tim Zechel was brought to the squad for the quarter-finals. However, because Paul Drux reported himself fit to play in good time, the man from Erlangen did not make it onto the game report sheet. The line runner was not allowed to play against Egypt either. Only in the last game was Zechel allowed to throw against Norway for the first time at a World Cup – and missed.
