Pure relief for Germany’s handball players: The DHB team won its final game for the Olympic ticket in Hanover against Austria with 34:31 (18:15), thereby also securing the job for national coach Alfred Gislason. Julian Köster and Renars Uscins stood out.
A short dance of joy on the parquet, a symbolic “Ticket to Paris”, a collective sigh of relief in front of 10,099 spectators in Hanover: an enormous burden was lifted from the German handball players after the final whistle. “Relief” was the prevailing feeling, goalkeeper Andreas Wolff told ARD after the end of the game. “It was the expected difficult game against Austria.”
The supposed underdog fought until the end for his first Olympic participation since 1936. However, unlike against Algeria on Thursday (41:29) and against Croatia on Saturday (30:33), the Germans were more alert from the start and especially in defense They were more aggressive, survived even minor periods of weakness and always kept Austria at least two goals away. Ales Pajovic’s side should have won to qualify for Paris.
The DHB team also secured the job for their coach; Gislason’s contract until the home World Cup in 2027 was linked to successful qualification for Paris. “It’s nice that the team was able to achieve this with this statement,” said Wolff.
Gislason plays it cool
The Icelander was also happy that facts had been established, but played it cool: “My father was more worried than me. I was sure that we would make it,” said Gislason in the Sportschau interview. The discussions about himself made him uncomfortable: “I was annoyed by all the talk.”
Gislason also addressed critics of his team: “It is not recognized what this young team achieves. No other team has as many young players as we do.” Of those, the Icelander highlighted Renars Uscins and Julian Köster, both of whom scored eight times against Austria. Uscins was voted “Man of the Match” for the third time in a row, while Köster impressed with his outstanding defensive work, as he did at the home European Championships.
Uscins: “We still have a lot to learn”
“I’m incredibly proud of the team. We put up a huge fight,” Uscins told ARD. “We still have a lot to learn. This is something we’re growing from.”
Germany started nervously again on Sunday and started with two ball losses in the attack, but unlike on Saturday against Croatia, the DHB team did not let their opponents get away. Thanks to a compact defense, the hosts scored four goals in a row and turned the 0-2 lead into a 4-2 lead.
DHB with strong defensive work
What’s striking is that when the Austrians were able to quickly switch to attack, they scored goals. When the German defense was formed, Nikola Bilyk and Co. had big problems finding solutions against the middle block around Köster, Johannes Golla and Marian Michalczik.
The lead seemed to give the Germans security; they always kept the lead at least two goals and regularly extended it to five goals.
Austria’s Olympic dream shattered
Austria was too static in defense and, unlike in the first two qualifying games, Germany scored a lot of goals from the backcourt. Offensively, Janko Bozovic kept the supposed underdog alive; the 38-year-old from Al Sulaibikhat (Kuwait) scored six times for the Austrians in the second half and was also his team’s best thrower with a total of seven goals.
Despite the self-sacrificing fight, the team around Kiel’s star Nikola Bilyk was unable to make a comeback and the Austrians’ Olympic dream was dashed. Croatia and Algeria will meet in the last game of the qualifying tournament in Hanover on Sunday afternoon. The Croatians with former national coach Dagur Sigurdsson had already bought their ticket to Paris on Sunday.
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Sports club | March 17, 2024 | 10:50 p.m