Prior to the EHF EURO 2022, Germany’s coach Alfred Gislason had chosen to pick some young players to prepare the future. Tonight, it proved to be a fruitful bet, as his youngsters carried his team to their second win in the competition.
If left back Sebastian Heymann was key in the first half, wings Timo Kastening and Lukas Mertens helped the Germans break away after half-time. In the meantime, Till Klimpke showed everyone he has the skills to play at the international level, pulling off 14 saves.
GROUP D
Germany vs Austria 34:29 (15:16)
- Germany pulled out the same kind of performance in the first half tonight as they did two days ago against Belarus. Too weak in defence, despite Till Klimpke saving eight shots, Germany trailed on the scoreboard all first half long
- things changed after the break, as Germany displayed an impressive offensive efficiency to take the lead and increase their advantage.
- left-handers Timo Kastening and Christoph Steinert were especially important, with the first one giving his team a four-goals lead with nine minutes to play
- Austria’s Robert Weber scored his 100th EHF EURO goal tonight, in the first half. Kasteniing, who scored nine for Germany, was elected Grundfos Player of the Match
- Germany are now on top of the group, with the maximum of four points, while Austria have yet to take a point
Till Klimpke wins the clash of the extremes
Two very different styles of goalkeepers faced each other tonight, as the 39-year-old Austrian Golub Doknic was opposed to the 23-year-old German Till Klimpke.
Even though he had trouble in his first EHF EURO game two days ago, no making a save against Belarus, Klimpke pulled off a completely different performance tonight. The HSG Wetzlar goalkeeper stopped seven shots in the first half to keep Germany in the game before securing the win with two decisive saves three minutes before the final siren.
