Handball World Cup - Olympic Games in sight: DHB women looking for the "reset" button
Alina Grijseels was the first to regain her optimism. As her teammates cried with disappointment in the interview zone and searched in vain for explanations for their sobering handball performance in the World Cup quarter-finals, the co-captain was already looking ahead.
"We still have two games left. The aim now is to finish fifth. We want to play better against good opponents and take this feeling with us into the Olympic qualifiers," Grijseels appealed to her teammates.
The tournament in Scandinavia is not over for the DHB team, even if it must have felt that way for the majority of the players after the 20:27 defeat against Sweden. Anything from fifth to eighth place is still possible. Two victories at the end would not only be helpful for the mood, but also to play themselves into a supposedly easier group at the Olympic qualifying tournament. "I believe that we have a team that gives us confidence going into the next few days," said sporting director Axel Kromer.
The trend is right
The DHB team can therefore not afford to approach the game against the Czech Republic on Friday (11.30 am/Sportdeutschland.tv) at half throttle. "We want results again to build up mentality," demanded Kromer and attested to the positive development of his players. "We are satisfied with the team's trend. We won't allow ourselves to be talked out of the trend," said the 46-year-old.
However, the fact that the German handball team's performances at major tournaments have a pattern has not gone unnoticed by Kromer. Confident performances in the preliminary and main rounds have players, coaches and fans dreaming of a major coup. The drop in performance always comes when it counts: in the knockout phase. Three times seventh and once eighth are the results of the past European and World Championships.
Gap to the top four nations
Fifth place in Scandinavia would still not be the semi-final they long for, but at least on paper it would bring them closer to the top nations of France, Norway, Denmark and Sweden. "Everyone has to ask themselves why they didn't reach their performance limits," said Grijeseels after a desolate first half against Sweden and admitted: "Today we saw that we are not yet one of the top four nations.
The women's handball team has been waiting for a medal since 2007. The next attempt will be at next year's European Championships. But nobody was thinking about that after the Sweden game.
The full range of emotions
Frustration, emptiness, disappointment, helplessness. The emotions of the German handball players covered the entire negative emotional spectrum on Wednesday. The DHB squad had one day to collect themselves. To come to terms with the at times desolate performance against the Scandinavians. To cheer each other up and start the placement match against the Czech Republic with renewed energy.
At first, no one knew how to do this. The players of national coach Markus Gaugisch stood in the interview zone in complete consternation. There, where Katharina Filter and Co. had praised the team's positive development with a broad grin just two days before, helplessness prevailed. "We'll be pressing reset tomorrow," announced Emily Bölk and at least regained some of her optimism.
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- Despite their 20:27 defeat against Sweden in the World Cup quarter-finals, the DHB women's handball team still has a chance to finish fifth in the ongoing Handball World Cup in Scandinavia.
- Co-captain Alina Grijseels urged her teammates to focus on improving their performance in the remaining games to prepare for the Olympic qualifiers.
- The team's sporting director, Axel Kromer, expressed confidence in the team and believed they could secure two more victories to improve their position in the Olympic qualifying tournament.
- Germany's struggle in major tournament knockout phases is not lost on Kromer, with past results including three seventh-placed finishes and one eighth-placed finish in European and World Championships.
- Finishing fifth in the World Cup in Scandinavia would help the German handball team narrow the gap to the top nations of France, Norway, Denmark, and Sweden, according to co-captain Grijseels.
- The Czech Republic awaits Germany in their next game of the World Cup, and Kromer emphasized the importance of a strong performance to regain momentum and maintain their positive development.
- Handball analysts and fans from Germany, Denmark, Sweden, and the Czech Republic will closely watch the remaining games of the World Cup, with the women's handball team from the Scandinavian countries aiming to reclaim their domestic dominance and glory in the world stage, represented by their respective National teams.
Source: www.stern.de
