Handball European Championships
“From Another Star”: Hymns of praise for handball goalkeeper Wolff
A strong performance: Germany goalkeeper Andreas Wolff clenches his fist. photo
© Tom Weller/dpa
Andi Wolff excels in Germany’s opening European Championship victory against Switzerland. His teammates rave, the goalkeeper himself is modest.
Handball national goalkeeper Andreas Wolff was showered with praise by his teammates after his fantastic performance at the start of the European Championship.
“I knew he was good, but today was from a different planet,” enthused playmaker Juri Knorr after the brilliant 27:14 victory over Switzerland in the Düsseldorf football stadium and used a few superlatives for the performance of the DHB goalkeeper: ” Incredible, unbelievable, unique. He was a great support.”
A world record crowd of 53,586 spectators saw a German keeper in top form right at the start of the tournament. According to official statistics, Wolff parried 13 shots from the Swiss – that meant a brilliant rate of around 60 percent. “That’s just unbelievable. When you have a goalkeeper like that behind you, you can’t lose a game like that,” said right winger Timo Kastening.
Especially in the initial phase, when the DHB selection was still a bit nervous in attack, Wolff gave his front men the necessary security and parried several free throws from the Swiss. “I don’t understand what he’s doing anyway. Simply world class. Andi is a wall,” Rune Dahmke praised his teammate.
Captain Johannes Golla also raved about the 32-year-old between the posts of the German goal. “He had our backs. We can only thank Andi,” said Golla.
Just a few months ago it was uncertain whether Wolff would be able to experience the home European Championships on the floor. A herniated disc put him out of action for weeks. He only celebrated his comeback to the national team at the beginning of November. Now the goalkeeper from Polish club Industria Kielce seems to be in top shape. “You can hardly do better,” said national coach Alfred Gislason, praising the veteran goalkeeper.
Wolff himself remained modest. “The defenders worked extremely well today and made it easy for me,” he said and passed on the compliments to the entire team: “I’m very proud of the team because I wouldn’t have thought such a confident game was possible.”