"Where's the Wolf" 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 think about this evening in their beds, they might think of Andreas Wolff. Probably, the goalkeeper of the German national handball team will also fly through their nightmares. It was the 33-year-old who previously burst all the Spanish gold dreams in a dramatic Olympic semi-final. The German team won 25:24, mainly because Wolff was deep in the minds of the Spanish attackers from the beginning. When Germany quickly led 6:3, the goalkeeper had already saved six balls, and in the end, there were incredible 22 parades. Germany is playing for Olympic gold for the first time since 2004.
Especially in the last minutes of this thriller, when Spain had several chances to pull away by two goals, Wolff drove them to despair: He always managed to put 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 came to his goal, the darker, bigger, and more threatening the mighty shadow cast by the 110-kilogram, 1.98-meter-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 in the end, when the last Spanish attack shattered on 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 national coach Alfred Gislason, "but this is simply incredible."
Now his team is playing for the gold medal on Sunday, either against Slovenia or the seemingly invincible Denmark. "We want to show the handball world now what we're made of," said semi-final hero Wolff, looking ahead to the final: "We have one more step to go into history." After the DDR's final triumph in 1980, no German team has won Olympic gold again. Now it could happen again. Regardless of how it goes on Sunday, just reaching the final is a big triumph for Germany, which has gradually moved away from the absolute world top after the golden year 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 cleared the way for David Spaeth early on. The U21 world champion ran into great shape and saved the DHB team in the semi-final. 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 worked hard in defense for Wolff's fairytale quota: "We are incredibly proud of what we have achieved. Now we want to take the last step."
Wolff once again sends the ambitious Spaniards tumbling into the valley of tears. Just like in 2016, when the star of the German goalkeeper shone brightly 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 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 quarterfinal - and for the fifth time, they fell short. "Andreas Wolff is the werewolf who scared the Spaniards with another failed attempt at an Olympic final." The German goalkeeper is back to haunt the nightmares of Spain after eight years.
TheSpanish handball team undoubtedly had Wolff on their minds during their sleepless nights, as his remarkable performance in the semi-finals left them just short of reaching the Olympic final. The German national handball team, led by Wolff's heroics, will now face either Slovenia or Denmark in the gold medal match, aiming to bring the Olympic title back to Germany after a 19-year drought.
