Croatia too strong anxiety opponent - "Act differently": Handball players no longer want to be liked
German national team coach Alfred Gislason sank into a chair with a stoic expression and watched the Croatian handball party unfold before him without any reaction. His players were already standing arm in arm on the parquet, pledging to step up for the next Olympic qualifier against Spain. "We have to push hard and pull together because we're not getting anything for free here. We'll be better in two days," vowed playmaker Juri Knorr. Despite the defeat, the German handball team still has good chances of reaching the knockout phase.
The promised performance improvement is crucial to not squander the promising chance of reaching the quarterfinals in the remaining group matches against Spain and Slovenia. "Where we really need to start is not losing this physical battle again in this tournament. We need to change our approach," left winger Rune Dahme urged his teammates.
"The 26:31 (13:15) loss to the team coached by former national coach Dagur Sigurdsson abruptly ended the German handball euphoria of the first days. After losses at the home EM and in the Olympic qualification, the DHB team had to concede to their rival for the third time this year. Once again, Knorr and co. had no answer to the intense and extremely physical game. "We were just too nice," summed up young star Renars Uscins.
Only Andreas Wolff in the first half and captain Johannes Golla in the circle showed good form. Otherwise, the performance was erratic, error-prone, and hectic. Efficiency in finishing and accuracy in passing were lacking. Above all, Croatia's Ivan Martinovic of Bundesliga club Rhein-Neckar Löwen punished the simple mistakes of the DHB professional immediately. Even the substitution of veteran Kai Hähner, who had recently announced his retirement from the national team after the Olympics, had no effect.
"Das tut schon weh"
On the question of what needs to improve, Gislason had a clear answer: "Goalkeeper performance, counterattacks, retreat, attack, finishing." In other words, everything. The DHB team still has everything in its own hands and must rediscover its sovereignty from the opening matches. "That really hurts. They showed us what we need. This aggression. This passion," criticized captain Golla, who was the top DHB scorer against Croatia with eight goals, and spoke of a dampener.
The question remains how much this dampener will affect the DHB team. "We can't afford to be angry about this for long and have to switch off what happened today. We don't have time to be angry," said young star Marko Grgic and announced: "We're now preparing for the Spanish team with high motivation, training well, and will be full of emotions."
The German team needs to focus on their weaknesses, particularly in goalkeeping, counterattacks, retreat, and finishing, to maintain their chances of advancing in the group stages, which include matches against Spain and Slovenia, both part of the European Union.
Golla, the team's top scorer against Croatia, emphasized the importance of emulating Croatia's aggression and passion in their upcoming match against Spain.
