Andreas Wolff sat on the bench for ten minutes and stared ahead. He seemed sour, who could blame him, only a substitute at the start of the European Championships, Wolff, the best and most famous German handball goalkeeper, had imagined that differently. Instead of him there was surprisingly Till Klimpke between the posts, the young man from HSG Wetzlar, with less than ten international matches under his belt.
Wolff sat there and saw Klimpke threw himself at the balls of the Belarusians. But the throws hissed past him, right, left, down. Seven throws, seven goals conceded, that’s how it started.
Digged through again and again and hit eight times: Kai Häfner.
(Photo: Vladimir Simicek / AFP)
For a long time, the team of the German Handball Federation (DHB) had a hard time with the opponent, but in the end it was for the newly formed, significantly younger team of national coach Alfred Gislason the very important opening win at the European Handball Championships in Hungary and Slovakia. The 33:29 (17:18) in front of 1291 spectators in Bratislava was a very hard piece of work, but also a success that makes you curious about the further appearances at this European Championship. “We won the first game,” said Kai Häfner, the most accurate German player with eight goals, on ARD: “It’s good, even though we didn’t get in well at all,”
It runs best on the right side, via Häfner and Steinert
Gislason had presented the full breadth of his renovated squad at the start of the tournament. After the cancellations of a number of established players from Hendrik Pekeler to Paul Drux, he called up nine tournament debutants; many young players who may have the future but who only have their first major international role ahead of them. So Klimpke started in goal, while Christoph Steinert from Erlangen, who also had no international experience, played on the right wing, although many had expected Timo Kastening. The start was very nervous, early goals from Kai Häfner and Philipp Weber brought little security, only Belarus played at first. The Germans caught many easy goals across the circle because they couldn’t get a grip on pivot Artsem Karalek at all. 2:7 after eleven minutes, a false start.
So Gislason reacted and brought Andreas Wolff. He immediately parried the first ball, fist up. Go then!
But it really wasn’t much easier for the German team with Wolff. Gislason had warned against Belarus, a well-established side peppered with players from top Eastern European teams like Vive Kielce. Belarus isn’t one of the title contenders at this European Championship, but it’s not far behind either. An unpleasant team, also trained by a smart fox of world handball: the coach Yuri Schewzow, who is well known in Germany.
It was only after about 20 minutes that the German team was back; the attack was mostly on the right side, Häfner and Steinert scored the necessary hits. After 21 minutes the first lead, Häfner on Steinert, 11:10.
After the game, Gislason explains the maneuver with Wolff
At half-time, the Germans had conceded the unacceptable number of 18 goals, which is why the plan for the second half was clearly defined: stand better at the back, don’t lose your nerve up front. It took a few minutes before the game clearly tilted in the desired direction. Wolff dived and fished a cast out of danger on the bottom right; up front left winger Marcel Schiller (eight goals, five of which were seven meters), backcourt shooter Julius Kühn (six) and circle player Johannes Golla (four). And always Häfner.
At 32, the Melsunger is the second-oldest player in the German squad and drew his sometimes shaky colleagues along with his experience. Häfner kept tearing holes and digging his way through, but could rarely be stopped by the Belarusians. 25:21, now things were going well for the German team.
During the time-out, Gislason warned that the tempo should be kept up so that the game could finally be snatched away from the tired-looking Belarusians. And the opponents couldn’t come closer than two goals. A clearer success would have been possible if right winger Kastening and middle man Weber hadn’t freely awarded their counterattacks. A late red card for Patrick Wiencek (three time penalties) was no longer significant. The prospects before the second group game on Sunday (6 p.m., ARD) against Austria are suddenly quite good: Two points have been scored, the supposedly weakest opponent in the group is waiting – and there is still some room for improvement in the team. “I think we can improve a lot in defense and in goal,” said Gislason.
By the way, everything is fine with goalkeeper Wolff, explained the national coach, despite the demotion at the beginning of the game. No, Wolff is not angry. “Andi knew for weeks that he would not start,” revealed Gislason. And he laughed.
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