Crime in Cologne: draw between the DHB team and Austria

Germany handball players suffered a surprising setback in the second European Championship main round game. The DHB team didn’t get past 22:22 against outsiders Austria.

01/20/2024 | 06:54 minutes


Germany’s handball players have at the Home European Championships have to accept another setback. National coach Alfred Gislason’s team couldn’t score more than 22:22 (11:12) in the prestigious duel against Austria and has to worry about reaching the semi-finals. In front of 19,750 fans, Juri Knorr, in his 50th appearance in the DHB jersey, was the best thrower of the German team with six goals, which acted erratically and incorrectly.
Captain Golla continued: “We are playing the worst game in terms of attacking effectiveness. So we won’t achieve anything in the tournament, but we have the fans behind us.” (Johannes Golla in a ZDF interview)

Main round opponent Hungary presents:

Hungary secured its first victory in the main round. The Hungarian team somewhat surprisingly won against Croatia with 29:26.

01/20/2024 | 06:45 minutes


With 3:3 points, the DHB team only takes fourth place in Group I. Behind Olympic champion France (6:0), who beat Iceland 39:32, are Austria and Hungary (4:2 each). The Hungarians, on Monday next opponent of the DHB selection, defeated Croatia 29:26. Only the top two in the group reach the semi-finals.
Under the eyes of almost all of the 1978 world champions around jubilee Joachim Deckarm, to whom the spectators gave a special serenade before kick-off one day after his 70th birthday, the previously convincing director Knorr initially just sat on the bench. “He was a little ill before the last game,” said Gislason, explaining the move.

At the 1978 World Cup, Joachim Deckarm became a handball hero – soon after, an unfortunate fall left him in need of nursing care. But Deckarm fights his way back to life.

01/19/2024 | 09:10 minutes


Philipp Weber from Champions League winner SC Magdeburg moved into the starting line-up for Knorr. But without their top playmaker from cup winners Rhein-Neckar Löwen, the DHB selection struggled from the start.
Fortunately, goalkeeper Andreas Wolff was in his 150th international match as he was last time in the 26:24 tremor win against Iceland immediately to operating temperature. With his saves, the 32-year-old ensured that the Austrians were initially unable to pull away despite the proliferation of opportunities and numerous technical errors by the DHB team.

We still managed to win against Iceland:

Led by the outstanding Andreas Wolff, Germany’s handball players have set course for the medal games at their home European Championships. The DHB team maintains its semi-final chance.

01/18/2024 | 04:51 minutes


But Constantin Möstl in the Austrian goal was also in top form and caused the German players to despair. In the middle of the first half, the European Championship hosts were down by two goals at 4:6 – and Gislason sent Knorr to the floor.

The captain of the DHB team Johannes Golla about the game against Austria, the next game against Hungary and about the mood at the European Handball Championship.

01/20/2024 | 03:04 minutes


The outsider played carefree and extended the lead to four goals for the first time at 10:6. Only in the final phase of the first half did the German team act a little more consistently in attack, in which Knorr played a part. The deficit was only one goal after the first 30 minutes. DHB sports director Axel Kromer demanded during the half-time break:

But the error festival continued after the change. The German players repeatedly failed because of Austria’s goalkeeper Möstl, but they didn’t make things too difficult for him with many unplaced throws.

In the middle of the second half, Gislason’s protégés were once again behind by four goals at 16:20. Driven by the audience, Knorr and Co. fought their way back in the final phase and actually managed to equalize.

After the game, the ailing playmaker Juri Knorr gave the all-clear. “I just had a bit of a cold the last few days,” said the 23-year-old. “Today I felt very good and I’m confident that my body is now holding together and will hopefully only collapse a little in eight days.” He also said that “everything is okay” with his knee: “I had a horse kiss in the first half.”

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