The main round has been reached, but the chance of reaching the semi-finals is as good as wasted: Germany’s handball players trembled in a dramatic group final against Spain in the second phase of the European Championship. The DHB selection lost the duel with the World Cup fourth 21:23 (10:11) in Podgorica on Wednesday evening and took 0:4 points into the main round as third in the group. There Romania, Olympic champions France and the Netherlands in Skopje are the opponents of the team of national coach Markus Gaugisch, for which Alina Grijseels was the best thrower with six goals. “We’re going to Skopje, but today we’re depressed about the way we played the game,” said Gaugisch.
Because Poland had previously lost against group winners Montenegro 23:26, the DHB selection was allowed to afford a defeat with a difference of two goals in order to progress. The German team started very nervously in attack. After nine minutes there was only one goal to make it 1-2, technical errors and misses shaped the German offensive game. In the middle of the first half, Gaugisch brought his protégés together in a time-out when the score was 4:6 and asked them to be more calm and keep an overview. His words had an effect, as a result there were fewer easy ball losses. But the defense was no longer so consistent. However, we went into the half-time break just a little behind. After the change, the German team made another false start and quickly fell behind by three goals. But then they equalized with a 3:0 run to 15:15. Germany then lost the ball again, which Spain used to take a three-goal lead in the middle of the second half. Last year’s World Cup fourth-placed didn’t let up and extended the lead to four goals for the first time at 22:18. In the final phase, the German team came closer again, but a turnaround was no longer possible.