The last game of the year in their own country ends with a big blunder. The German national handball team loses bitterly against Sweden. National coach Alfred Gislason has to watch as his team has a complete blackout. The players are self-critical.
After the botched start of the German handball team in preparation for the World Cup, national coach Alfred Gislason left the floor with a grumpy look. The 33:37 (16:19) defeat against European champions Sweden did not serve three months before the start of the World Cup as the hoped-for encouragement for the DHB selection, which in front of 9221 spectators in Mannheim was too faulty and still far from the best form presented.
Above all, the blackout at the beginning of the second half, when the Scandinavians pulled away decisively with a 6:0 run within five minutes to 25:16, rankled the German players. “We gave up the game completely. That shouldn’t happen like that,” backcourt player Kai Häfner criticized himself and said: “It’s impossible to win against Sweden with such a long period of weakness.”
The outstanding captain Johannes Golla put it even more drastically: “It was a total failure. Everything went wrong. Of course that breaks a team’s neck.” The 24-year-old pivot from SG Flensburg-Handewitt was the best German thrower with twelve goals.
The German team can already do better on Saturday. Then it’s in the context of the Euro Cup in Jaen against the European Championship second Spain. The games serve to prepare for the World Cup from January 11th to 29th, 2023 in Poland and Sweden. There the DHB selection meets Qatar, Serbia and Algeria in the preliminary round.
The German team got off to a good start in the 111th duel with the Drei-Kronen-Team and was ahead 6:3 after five minutes. Golla in particular was initially unstoppable by the Swedes in the circle and scored seven times in the first 13 minutes.
But the momentum flagged. The Scandinavians didn’t let themselves be shaken off and coldly exploited the many gaps in the German defense. In particular, the winger Niclas Ekberg from THW Kiel and the ex-Flensburg player Hampus Wanne repeatedly appeared in front of goalkeeper Andreas Wolff and proved to be safe shooters in the end.
In the middle of the first half, the 2021 World Cup runners-up took the lead for the first time at 11:10 and increased this to three goals by the break because the DHB team lacked the ideas and the necessary precision in attack. At the back, Wolff, who prevented an even greater deficit with a few saves, was often left alone.
After the change, Till Klimpke moved between the posts of the German goal, but the mistakes made by those in front increased even further. “That was fatal against a top team like Sweden,” said right winger Patrick Groetzki, who scored three goals on his comeback after almost 21 months.
Although the German team recovered after a lecture from Gislason, the burden of the nine-goal deficit was too great. After all, under the eyes of DHB President Andreas Michelmann, who hoped in vain for a sporting gift for his 63rd birthday in the stands, the host tried to limit the damage.
When the Swedes became a bit careless in the final phase, the DHB selection came closer again. At 29:33 (52nd) the deficit was only four goals. Suddenly the audience was there again. But there was no turning back.