As of: January 27, 2024, 1:53 p.m
By: Stefan Schmid
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Germany lost in the semi-finals of the European Handball Championship against the favored Danes.
We have the voices about the game in Cologne.
Cologne – With support, the German handball players made it to the semi-finals of the European Handball Championship.
There they had to admit defeat against Denmark.
The Danes thus lived up to their clear role as favorites against the European Championship hosts.
The DHB team threw everything into the balance, led at the break, but was eliminated in the end.
The fact that DHB coach Alfred Gislason had to do without Kai Häfner certainly played a role.
Shortly before the throw-off, the association announced that Häfner had left for personal reasons and would therefore not take part in the game.
The voices about the game:
Juri Knorr after the game about...
… his disappointment after the European Championship exit:
“I allowed myself to be paralyzed a bit by the fear of the magnitude of the moment.
I don't want that again, it's not worth it.
Experience has shown me that this doesn't get you anywhere and that in the end you just blame yourself for it.
It's just disappointing when you wake up the next day and think there was more, there could have been more.
I don't want to lose in one of the biggest games of my career in such a way that after the game I feel like I didn't give it my all.
I feel extremely empty right now.
I blame myself.”
…his pride in what he has achieved:
“Many teams have already made it to the semi-finals.
Of course it's a great success and that's all well and good.
But we had the opportunity to do it.
We did well for one half, but not for two halves.
That's just extremely bitter.
I don’t want to be the kind of athlete who is happy when he reaches the semi-finals.”
Alfred Gislason (DHB coach) after the game about...
…his view of the game:
“I’m very, very proud of the boys.
They played a phenomenal first half.
Outstanding defense, excellent goalkeeping.
In the second half we gave up a bit too much against Nielsen in goal.
But he is also a world-class goalkeeper.
Ultimately, routine prevails.
They are also simply the best team in the world.
The fact remains: I am incredibly happy with the boys.
A performance that I say was great, but it's a shame we didn't make it to the end.
Now we have a final against Sweden for the Olympic qualification place.”
… what impressed him:
“Yes, especially Uscins in the first half.
We said he has to take risks, he has to take his throws like in the club.
He's not big, but he has incredible jumping power and a great wrist.
He played really well today.
Little light also comes at the end.
If you see, Köster and Knorr are also still very young.
Even if we didn't make it to the end, the team's mentality is right, we are incredible.
They go about it cheekily, even if they are faced with world class teams.”
… what prevails after the defeat:
“Everyone is disappointed.
But I think that the satisfaction with the performance outweighs it.
Only the Swedes have kept up with the Danes for so long.
We forced them to play with the top six.
Unfortunately, we fail with throws and we don't play the majority well.
That was the crux of the day.”
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Alfred Gislason with Renars Uscins, who played a strong first half.
© IMAGO / Sven Simon
Reners Uscins (DHB player and player of the game) after the game about…
.... whether the MotM award comforts him:
“Actually, not at all.
We lost the game, so even the small title doesn't help.
That’s really a shame because we made a few too many mistakes in the second half and Denmark prevailed in the end with their individual class.”
… the coach’s praise:
“I also thought the first half, I felt very safe.
Second half actually, then Nielsen takes a long throw away from me, one slips away from me and then I make two more bad passes.
Half of the mistakes and then maybe everything will be fine.
Still two mistakes too many at least.”
Johannes Golla (DHB player) after the game about…
… what made the difference:
“I think that we didn’t have as much control in the second half as we did in the first half.
Of course it also has to do with the Danes' good game in the 7 to 6 and we also left a few opportunities in the second half.
You have to praise the Danes' goalkeeper, the change was worth it.
Emil Nielsen plays a great game again.
But I'm still very, very proud.
Especially in the first half, but also over the 60 minutes.
… whether more was not possible against Denmark:
“I think on good days you can do more, especially over 60 minutes.
Today wasn't the perfect day.
In our analysis we will also find errors and things that we can do significantly better.
They are certainly superior to us at the moment, but I think that has shown that if we put this fight on the record, we can definitely keep up.”
… a preliminary tournament conclusion:
“First I want to wait and see whether we can make it on Sunday to reward ourselves with a medal.
What we did here was definitely ups and downs. With good games and not so good games.
But we made our dream come true, we played in the semi-finals against probably the best team in the world.
That’s why we’re obviously proud, but we’ll try to play a good game on Sunday.”
DHB coach Alfred Gislason has to do without Kai Häfner at short notice.
© IMAGO / Bildbyran
Alfred Gislason (DHB coach) before the game about…
… the role as underdogs against Denmark:
“We will have to play a good game in goal, in defense and up front too.
We know that too and we also know that we are blatant outsiders against the Danes.
But therein also lies our opportunity.”
… what is necessary for a win:
“We have to put up a phenomenal defense, otherwise we have no chance against the Danes.
And above all, we have to maintain our level for 60 minutes.
Many nations managed that in the first half against Denmark, but not after that.”
… whether Denmark has more pressure:
“No, they have breadth and experience.
I don't think they'll feel any pressure.
They have all played their game very confidently so far, but as I said, we have this outside chance.”
… the absences of Kastening and Häfner:
“It’s obviously a real shame that they both can’t play.
Timo (note: Kastening) is still sick and Kai (note: Häfner) cannot play due to personal reasons.
So it's a very, very unfortunate thing for us.
Of course Kai is a player from the starting lineup for us.
Without them both, Zerbe moved up anyway and Uscins and Steinert have to fill Kai Häfner’s part.”
Nikolaj Jacobsen (coach Denmark) before the game about…
… the difficulty against Germany:
“We have to deal with the good physicality of the German defense so that we can get our fast players into good positions.
When games are close in handball, the defense has to be good and the goalkeeper has to hold up well.
Both teams have good conditions with a good defense and good goalkeepers.
We’ll see who wins this duel today.”
… why Denmark is better at World Cups than at European Championships:
“I don’t know.”
(sh)