Jumping in a circle in the middle of the parquet, the German handball players celebrated their dream start to the European Championship festival weeks: supported by the world record crowd of 53,586 fans, the team around the outstanding goalkeeper Andreas Wolff celebrated the hoped-for opening victory at the home European Championship and took the first step in Made towards the main circuit. The DHB selection outclassed Switzerland 27:14 (13:8) in Düsseldorf on Wednesday evening and fueled hopes of a successful medal mission with a refreshing performance.
“The boys played themselves into a frenzy in the second half,” said national coach Alfred Gislason on ZDF. He praised the strong defense with an equally strong goalkeeper Wolff behind him as well as the consistent retreat behavior after losing the ball in the attack. “I’m very relieved that this performance came in such an important game,” praised the Icelander, who was impressed by the crowd of fans: “It was an extremely nice atmosphere and of course it’s an experience even for an old coach like me to witness it. With 53,000 spectators behind us, it was a phenomenal advertisement for our sport. I am extremely proud to have been there.”
Wolff becomes the best player in Germany’s first game of the European Handball Championship
Wolff, who was named the best player of the game, was also recognized by playmaker Juri Knorr as a guarantee of success. “I knew Andy was good, but for him to do something like that today is from another planet,” said Knorr. Wolff himself reacted modestly. “I also got a lot of help from my defense today. The boys translated the atmosphere here fantastically, were really courageous from the start and made the game sweeter for me as goalkeeper,” said the keeper, who parried 61 percent of Switzerland’s shots.
At the spectacular opening of the final round, national coach Alfred Gislason’s team impressed over long stretches and in some cases already spread the shine they had hoped for. DHB sports director Axel Kromer was correspondingly relieved, for whom the success was the right gift for his 47th birthday. “It’s a relief to me that the team acted so stably. That’s what we’ve been working towards,” said Kromer.
The best thrower for the winner was director Juri Knorr from cup winners Rhein-Neckar Löwen with six goals. On Thursday, the German team travels to Berlin as leaders of Group A, where the second preliminary round game against outsiders North Macedonia is on Sunday and the cracker against record world champions France next Tuesday. The Olympic champion started the tournament with an easy 39:29 (17:13) win against the North Macedonians. The first two teams reach the main round.