Olympic-Preparation - Ready for Olympics: Handballers beat France
With a successful win over European champions France, Germany's handballers boosted their confidence two weeks before their Olympic debut. At the last game of French star player Nikola Karabatic on German soil, the DHB-Team won with a score of 35:30 (19:15) and sent a clear message to the Olympic competition. The best scorers for the German team, led by national coach Alfred Gislason, were Tim Hornke and Franz Semper, each with five goals in Dortmund.
Before that, the DHB-women lost in front of 10,105 spectators against Brazil with a score of 31:36 (17:20). On the way to Paris, the German handball squad makes a stop in Stuttgart next weekend. There, they have a general rehearsal. The men play their last test matches against Hungary and Japan, while the women face Hungary and Brazil again.
Farewell for Karabatic
For Gislason, the clash with the currently best team in the world was a "stocktaking." For Karabatic, it was his last performance in the country where he grew into a three-time World Handballer with THW Kiel. After the Olympics, the 40-year-old will retire, decorated with World and European titles. In the Saturday game, Karabatic hardly stood out.
After the losses at the 2023 World Championship and the home EM this year, the German handballers wanted to show the French that they had made another step forward on the way to Paris in their development. Accordingly, the German team started eagerly and with much tempo. With Tim Hornke, who received the nod on the right wing over Timo Kastening, and goalkeeper Andi Wolff, Germany quickly took a 11:6 lead.
Gislason was pleased on the sidelines about the few technical errors - and the offensive threat, which his team mainly developed through the circle and the outside players. The fact that the pivot players around Julian Köster lacked precision initially hardly mattered. The French team seemed far from being well-prepared.
After the break, Germany allowed France to come close (24:23). Goalkeeper David Spaeth prevented the game from tipping over with strong saves, allowing the DHB-Team to regain their focus in offense and rebuild their lead.
DHB-women lack aggressiveness
The German women need a performance boost if they want to advance from the group stage at their first Olympic participation since 2008. Against Brazil, the DHB-team revealed significant weaknesses in defense. There was a lack of aggressiveness in one-on-one situations. The fear of getting injured so close to the Olympics seemed great.
"We are still in the preparation phase. We focused on offensive play in the training phases," tried to calm down national coach Markus Gaugisch and looked towards the Olympics: "No reason to worry."
- The victory over France in North Rhine-Westphalia boosted Germany's handball team's self-confidence ahead of the Olympic Games.
- Alfred Gislason, the national coach, led Germany's handball team in their test game against France before their Olympic debut.
- Tim Hornke and Franz Semper scored five goals each for Germany in their victory over France, with Hornke playing on the right wing.
- After the game, Nikola Karabatic, the French star player, reflected on his last performance on German soil before retiring after the Olympics.
- Germany's handball team has a stop in Stuttgart next weekend for a general rehearsal before their Olympic competition in Paris.
- The German women's handball team will face Hungary and Brazil again in their last test matches before the Olympics, aiming to improve their defensive performance.
- According to Gislason, the clash with France was a "stocktaking" for the German team, allowing them to assess their progress towards the Olympics.
- The DHB, the German handball federation, will send both their men's and women's teams to Paris for the Olympic Games, with the men playing against Hungary and Japan.
- The French handball team seemed underprepared during their test game against Germany, struggling to keep up with Germany's offensive threat.
- Brazil's handball team defeated Germany's women's team before their Olympic debut, highlighting the need for the German women to improve ahead of their group stage matches in Paris.
