Be careful
German Handballers face elimination at the Olympics. A comeback is expected after a disappointing start against South Korea. The offensive performance against Sweden is better but not good. Two top teams are waiting now.
As the Olympic misstart of the German handballers was perfect, Markus Gaugisch quickly grabbed the statistics sheet, constantly shaking his head. "The statistics are clear. I'm annoyed by that," Gaugisch said after the 28:31 (12:19) loss to the WM Fourth-placed Sweden. Once again, his team failed to convert their chances.
The team with medal aspirations must now fear for the quarterfinals after the second defeat in the second game. "That hurts," said Captain Emily Bölk. Like in the opening loss against South Korea (22:23), Bölk and Co. were too wasteful in front of the opponent's goal. 25 missed shots are too many at this level - the Swedes made only eleven.
The quarterfinals are "still possible," said Julia Maidhof defiantly, who, along with Co-Captain Alina Grijseels and Jenny Behrend, is the best German goalscorer. With 0:4 points, Germany is now in the Vorrunde Group A, facing the wall. The next opponent is on Tuesday (9 am/ZDF and Eurosport) Slovenia, which defeated South Korea 30:23 on Sunday.
"We know we can beat Slovenia - even at a height that suits us. Now it's about proving that and taking the positives," said Maidhof. The significant performance improvement in the second half against Sweden came too late.
Similar to the WM quarterfinals seven months ago (20:27), Sweden proved to be too strong. Although the DHB women held on until the 4:4 mark with a goal from Julia Maidhof (6th minute), they quickly fell behind due to five minutes without scoring. Additionally, goalkeeper Katharina Filter received few balls to save before the 7:11 mark in the first quarter.
Sarah Wachter then replaced Filter between the posts, but the defense play did not improve immediately. During the 7:13 (19th minute) stand, Gaugisch took the first timeout to wake up his players. However, this helped little. At the break, Germany trailed by seven (!) goals. The second half began with new momentum from the German team, which even came close to scoring four goals at times - but once again, it was numerous missed shots that snuffed out a potential comeback.
Despite the disappointing start, the German Handball national team is hopeful for a comeback in the Olympic Games 2024 in Paris, aiming to redeem themselves after several missed opportunities. The Handball national team is eager to improve their offensive performance and avoid elimination in the quarterfinals.
Remarkably, the German Handball national team's Handball national team has a history of strong performances against Slovenia, with the expectation that they can build on this rivalry in their upcoming match, potentially turning their Olympic fortunes around.
