The Kiel audience saw off the German handball players with a standing ovation for the home European Championships, but a little later the team of national coach Alfred Gislason had to cope with a mood killer. Patrick Groetzki will miss the European Championships that start on Wednesday. The foot injury that the right winger suffered in the 35:31 (20:15) against Portugal is serious.
“First and foremost, this is an extremely bitter diagnosis for Patrick, which of course also hits the national team and the Rhein-Neckar Löwen hard. We feel for him and wish him all the best for the upcoming rehab,” said DHB sports director Axel Kromer. National coach Alfred Gislason initially kept a subsequent nomination open. “We will now coordinate internally on how we will react after this failure,” said Kromer. The official squad must be reported to the European Handball Federation EHF by January 9th.
In the 23rd minute, Groetzki was about to jump into the circle before he stopped his movement. An initial radiological examination revealed that an old foot injury from the previous year had reoccurred. The veteran was out for a long time last November due to an injury to the plantar fascia, a tendon plate on the sole of the foot, and made his comeback shortly before Christmas. Originally, Groetzki and Timo Kastening were supposed to form the team on the right wing.
For Gislason, this is the second personnel setback for the European Championship mission after the loss of Marian Michalczik. The anticipation that the DHB coach had expressed immediately after the end of the game was greatly dampened on the bus ride towards North Rhine-Westphalia.
Andreas Wolff presents himself in EM form
The success against the Portuguese gave the DHB selection a fresh boost. “I’m in a very positive mood after the game,” Gislason said on the ARD microphone, but at the same time complained that the game was against the 13th team from the World Cup. became “unnecessarily” tight again due to “too many technical errors”.
Playmaker Juri Knorr became the top scorer in the lively German team with six goals. In addition, goalkeeper Andreas Wolff showed himself in European Championship form with a number of spectacular saves in front of 9,113 spectators. After a temporary seven-goal lead was reduced to one goal in the second half, the supposed regular seven had to do something about it in the final phase.
The DHB men, who had already won the first test against the Portuguese with 34:33, will play their European Championship opening game against Switzerland next Wednesday (8.45 p.m./ZDF and Dyn) in front of more than 50,000 spectators in the Düsseldorf football arena. Other opponents in preliminary group A are North Macedonia (January 14th/8.30 p.m./ZDF and Dyn) and record world champions France (January 16/8.30 p.m./ARD and Dyn). The top two finishers advance to the main round.
Germany once again showed a changeable performance against Portugal. Knorr and Co. exuded plenty of wit on offense, showed quick ball relays, variability and spectacular finishes. But once again there was a problem on the defensive. Only over time did Germany gain a comfortable lead.
Emotional farewell to European champion Hendrik Pekeler
When Groetzki injured himself without any influence from the opponent and then hobbled off the field supported by his teammates, it wasn’t just Gislason who held his breath. “Oh, shit,” commented TV expert Johannes Bitter. “It obviously dampens the whole mood, the whole euphoria,” said captain Johannes Golla even before it became clear that Groetzki would actually miss the entire European Championship.
In the second round, Gislason made a lot of changes – which initially didn’t affect the mood in the stands or the performance. Nevertheless, the game became close again because Germany went a long time without scoring their own goal. Golla ended a ten-minute goal drought at 30:28 and brought safety back.
After the game, the stage once again belonged to Hendrik Pekeler. The 2016 European champion from THW Kiel was officially farewelled from the national team in his “living room”; he is only available in absolute emergencies and not during a tournament.
“It’s an incredible honor to be able to represent your fatherland. It was always an honor. I’m glad that I received this farewell from the DHB today,” said Pekeler over the hall microphone.
Germany vs. Portugal: Handball test match – end of game
Germany vs. Portugal: Handball test match NOW in the live ticker – 35:31
Conclusion The first game of the home European Championship is scheduled for next Wednesday. The DHB team welcomes Switzerland in Düsseldorf (8.45 p.m./ZDF).
Conclusion The German national team also wins the second and final game of the European Championship preparations. Coach Alfred Gislason’s team impressed with a flexible offensive and increased performance at the end of both halves.