DHB team badly disappointed in Olympic relegation
It's a harsh setback against the bogeyman: The German handballers lose to Croatia at the Olympic Games. This is already their third defeat against this opponent this year. Head coach Alfred Gislason sees a poor performance from his team. Nevertheless, the chances of reaching the quarter-finals are high.
Germany's handballers suffered their first setback after euphoric Olympic days and missed out on a direct quarter-final spot. After victories over co-favorite Sweden and outsider Japan, the team coached by Alfred Gislason lost to Croatia 26:31 (13:15) for the third time this year, putting in a disappointing performance throughout the 60 minutes.
"We knew it would be a very good opponent. We lost the last games against them and knew we had to play very, very well, and we didn't do that. We couldn't assume we would win," said Gislason.
The DHB team had already left the court as losers at the home EM in January and the Olympic qualification in March. In front of around 5,700 spectators in Paris, captain Johannes Golla was the top German scorer with eight goals.
Despite the defeat, the German handballers still have good chances of reaching the knockout phase. In the final group games against Spain and Slovenia, it's not just about the quarter-finals but also about a good starting position for the rest of the tournament. As group winners or runners-up, they would likely avoid gold candidate Denmark in the first round.
Poor conversion rate
Hundreds of Germany fans created a home atmosphere in the Arena Sud, but the Gislason team struggled against aggressive Croats despite the loud cheers. The conversion rate was poor, with left wing Lukas Mertens and right back Julian Köster missing several chances from good positions. When Germany was successful, it was often through the circle and captain Golla.
The fact that the rival coached by former national coach Dagur Sigurdsson couldn't pull away initially was due to their own finishing weakness and goalkeeper Andreas Wolff. Like against Sweden and Japan, the 33-year-old was the important backbone Germany needed. The goalkeeper from THW Kiel was in good form compared to his teammates. "We have to use our heads more," Gislason demanded loudly and visibly annoyed.
The fact that his team was almost always behind by two goals didn't please the Islander at all. The sovereignty from the opening matches was gone. The German performance could best be described as erratic, error-prone, and hectic.
The German handballers made it easy for their opponents. The passes were as imprecise as many of the shots. Innumerable turnovers in attack were exploited by Croatia's Ivan Martinovic of Bundesliga club Rhein-Neckar Löwen to score completely unchallenged. The German team around playmaker Juri Knorr found no means and had to let the Sigurdsson team pull away to a five-goal lead (15:20).
Gislason tried a lot and brought on Kai Häfner in the second half, who had recently announced his retirement from the national team after the Olympics. The substitution had no effect, and even the oldest player in the German Olympic squad couldn't prevent the defeat.
The National handball team's poor performance against Croatia continued, resulting in their third defeat this year. Despite the setbacks, the German handballers still have a chance to reach the knockout phase with wins in their final group games against Spain and Slovenia.
