Opinion Victory in front of a world record backdrop
Start of the European Handball Championships – a spectacle that awakens medal dreams
As of: 11:01 p.m. | Reading time: 3 minutes
A confident opening victory in front of a world record crowd – if that’s not a reason to celebrate for the national handball team
Quelle: Getty Images/Christof Koepsel
Germany’s handball players are using the world record setting in Düsseldorf for a furious start to the home European Championship. The win against Switzerland boosts hopes of winning their first medal in eight years.
The German association has proclaimed nothing less than the “Decade of Handball” – and now has to prove itself not only economically, but above all in a sporting sense. After hosting the U21 World Cup last summer, the men’s home European Championship is currently the next highlight of this era, which also includes the women’s World Cup for 2025 and the men’s global comparison for 2027 in this country.
In this respect, the protagonists in the German Handball Association (DHB) around President Andreas Michelmann and CEO Mark Schober were pleased to see that the start of the European Championship on Wednesday evening in the Düsseldorf football arena was a complete success.
Impressive game in front of an impressive backdrop – the fans celebrate the national team and the national team celebrate the fans
Source: AP/Martin Meissner
In the victory over Switzerland, national coach Alfred Gislason’s players showed what they are capable of as the title fight continues. Thanks to an outstanding goalkeeper Andreas Wolff, an appealing performance from the defense and a variable attack game led by director Juri Knorr, a confident success was achieved against the Swiss. The game had previously been called a key game in order to reach the main round of the home tournament. Now the path is more than paved before the next two matches against North Macedonia (Sunday, 8.30 p.m., ZDF/Dyn) and France (Tuesday, 8.30 p.m., ARD/Dyn) in Berlin.
Euphoria is also documented in ticket sales
The fact that this important opening success was achieved in front of a world record crowd of 53,586 fans made the evening in the North Rhine-Westphalian state capital completely perfect. In no other nation in the world has this mark even come close to being achieved – it proves the enthusiasm that handball players in Germany can arouse at major tournaments in January of each year. Even among those who otherwise only follow the original German sport on the sidelines.
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The ignited euphoria is also documented in ticket sales. More than 75 percent of all tickets have been sold so far. A remarkable number – especially considering that only matches without German participation take place in the three venues Hamburg, Mannheim and Munich.
First medal possible since 2016
From a financial point of view, the DHB has already got rid of a major concern: Due to the great interest of the fans, the world’s largest handball association does not have to dip into its fixed-term deposit account in order to meet the European Championship budget of 28 million euros. Ticket sales of 50 percent would have been enough for this, and this figure has now been significantly exceeded around the opening day of the game.
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If the national team continues to perform as it did at the start against Switzerland, this “decade of handball” could end up bringing in the first medal for a men’s team since Olympic bronze in 2016. In any case, after the exhilarating start, tender dreams are allowed.
