The Werewolf is finally back in Spain's nightmares
Andreas Wolff delivers an incredible performance in the Olympic handball tournament semi-final, leading the DHB team to the final. For the first time in 20 years, the German team is playing for gold. And the unleashed goalkeeper will be remembered in Spain for a long time.
If the best Spanish handball players are lying in bed tonight, they might be thinking of Andreas Wolff. The German national team's goalkeeper might even haunt their dreams. It was the 33-year-old who previously shattered all Spanish gold dreams in a dramatic Olympic semi-final. The German team won 25:24, largely thanks to Wolff, who was in the Spanish attackers' heads from the start. With Germany leading 6:3 early on, the goalkeeper had already saved six balls, ending with an incredible 22 saves. Germany is playing for Olympic gold for the first time since 2004.
Especially in the final minutes of this thriller, when Spain had several chances to pull ahead by two goals, Wolff drove them to despair: He always managed to get an arm, a foot, or another part of his massive body between the ball and the goal, even from the closest distance. The closer they got to his goal, the darker, larger, and more threatening the mighty shadow cast by the 110 kg, 1.98 m tall giant became.
"We want to show what we're made of"
"Andi, Andi" chanted the German fans from the tribunes in the football stadium in Lille, converted into a handball temple. And at the end, when the last Spanish attack shattered against the German middle block and the clock ran out mercilessly, they all ran to their goalkeeper. "He showed great saves, it carried us to the final," said Renars Uscins, the best German scorer with six goals in the second half, about the match winner on Eurosport. Wolff saved a crazy 49 percent of all balls. "I've seen some great games from my goalkeeper," said coach Alfred Gislason, "but this is simply incredible."
Now his team is playing for the gold medal against the long-dominant Danes, who surprisingly squeaked into the final against Slovenia (31:30). "We want to show the handball world what we're made of," said semi-final hero Wolff, looking ahead to the final: "We have one more step to take to make history." After the DDR's final triumph in 1980, no German team has won Olympic gold. Now it could happen again. Regardless of how it goes on Sunday, just reaching the final is a big triumph for Germany, which has been gradually moving away from the absolute world top after the golden year of 2016 and is now making a strong comeback.
On Wednesday, in the German handball miracle against France (35:34 after extra time), Wolff didn't touch the ball and gave way to David Spaeth early. The U21 World Champion ran into great form and saved the DHB team's semi-final spot. Now Wolff is back. "Andi felt like he saved everything for this game. A devil of a goalkeeper who holds everything that comes his way," marveled Sebastian Heymann, who had worked hard in defense for Wolff's fairy-tale save rate: "We are incredibly proud of what we have achieved. Now we want to take the last step."
Wolff sends the ambitious Spaniards tumbling into the valley of tears once again. Just as he did in 2016, when the star of the German goalkeeper rose during the sensational European Championship triumph in Poland. "Andreas Wolff is now, with his incredible saves, one of the black beasts of Spanish handball," the Spanish press had exclaimed at the time, as the massive underdog dismantled the favorites 24:17 - and the then internationally unknown Wolff shut down his goal. Now, the Spanish sports newspaper "AS" writes: "Wolff and the semifinals, insurmountable walls." For the fifth time, "Los Hispanos" reached an Olympic semifinal - and for the fifth time, they failed. "Andreas Wolff is the werewolf who frightened the Spaniards with another failed attempt at an Olympic final." The German goalkeeper is back in the nightmares of Spain after eight years.
In the aftermath of their defeat, Spanish handball enthusiasts might ponder over Andreas Wolff's performance. The German goalkeeper's heroics in the 2020 Olympic handball tournament semi-final continue to haunt Spanish players.
