Germany’s handball players started the home European Championship with a victory. National coach Alfreð Gíslason’s team beat Switzerland 27:14 (13:8) in the Düsseldorf football stadium and took the first step towards the main round. The best German thrower was Juri Knorr with six goals.
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53,586 spectators watched the game in Düsseldorf – a record number of spectators. Never before have there been so many fans at an indoor handball game, as the European Handball Federation (EHF) announced shortly before kick-off. To make this possible, additional stands with a capacity of more than 9,000 seats were built. The previous record dates back to 2014, when 44,189 spectators watched the game between Rhein-Neckar Löwen and Hamburg in the Frankfurt football arena.
“The closer we get to kick-off, the greater the tension will be,” said Gíslason the day before the game. But halfway through the first half, the Germans were already four goals ahead with a score of 7:3. A few technical errors and a number of missed opportunities prevented the team from taking an even bigger lead at half-time.
“That’s what we’ve been working towards”
“It’s a weight off my heart that the team acted so stably. That’s what we’ve been working towards,” said DHB sports director Axel Kromer after the game.
With their successful performance, the DHB team created euphoria right at the start of the tournament, which is expected to last until the final day on January 28th. “This is an opportunity to make the sport even better known than it already is,” said DHB boss Andreas Michelmann about the first European Championship tournament in Germany. “We hope for even more resonance for the sport and want to spread the positive image to the population.”
On Thursday, the German team travels to Berlin as leaders of Group A, where they play the second preliminary round game against outsiders North Macedonia on Sunday and against record world champions France next Tuesday. The Olympic champion started the tournament with a 39:29 (17:13) win against the North Macedonians. The first two teams in each group reach the main round.
Germany’s handball players started the home European Championship with a victory. National coach Alfreð Gíslason’s team beat Switzerland 27:14 (13:8) in the Düsseldorf football stadium and took the first step towards the main round. The best German thrower was Juri Knorr with six goals.
53,586 spectators watched the game in Düsseldorf – a record number of spectators. Never before have there been so many fans at an indoor handball game, as the European Handball Federation (EHF) announced shortly before kick-off. To make this possible, additional stands with a capacity of more than 9,000 seats were built. The previous record dates back to 2014, when 44,189 spectators watched the game between Rhein-Neckar Löwen and Hamburg in the Frankfurt football arena.
