Germany between enthusiasm and defeats

"Germany is looking forward to the EHF EURO 2024," says Mark Schober, CEO of the German Handball Federation. "The demand is overwhelming - not only for the opening match day in Düsseldorf, but also at the other locations. These will experience a further boost when the participating teams are determined after the draw and day tickets go on sale a little later. If you want to experience games of the EHF EURO 2024 live in the arenas, you actually have to hurry more than we all thought possible.”

Since Thursday night, 16 of the 24 participants have been confirmed, and some are already seeded for designated groups, like Croatia and Sweden for the preliminary round in Mannheim, Norway for Berlin and Denmark and Iceland for Munich. On Sunday, around 19:30 CEST, the final spots will be confirmed after round 6 of the qualifiers.

The main round groups will be hosted in Hamburg and Cologne, and the LANXESS arena (since 2010 the host of the Men’s EHF FINAL4) is the place to be for the final weekend - on 28 January the European champions will be crowned there. Hosts Germany hope to go all the way at least to the semis and even hope for another fairy tale like in 2007, when they finished the World Championship on the winners’ podium in Cologne.

But the outcome in the EHF EURO Cup does not increase those hopes for now. After finishing seventh at the EHF EURO 2022 and fifth at the 2023 World Championship, Germany are still waiting for their first point after five EHF EURO Cup rounds. All matches against other teams already qualified for the EHF EURO 2024 ended in defeats - one close one at Spain (31:32) and four clear ones against Denmark (23:30, 21:28) and Sweden (33:37 and 23:32 on Thursday). Therefore, the final chance to beat a big team is on Sunday, when the team of head coach Alfred Gislason host Spain in the last EHF EURO Cup match in Berlin.

“I've already told the players in the dressing room right after the defeat at Kristianstad that I am expecting a completely different team. A team, with more efficiency and pressure in attack. I do not understand the series of missed chances, we have to clearly improve against Spain.” Unfortunately for Germany, one key player got severely injured on Thursday: Füchse Berlin centre back Paul Drux tore his Achilles tendon and will not only miss his “home match” on Sunday in Berlin, but also the EHF Finals in Flensburg. “It is extremely bitter for us to lose him for such a long time. Paul’s injury completely overshadows this game and I feel incredibly sorry for him,” said Gislason.

Team captain Johannes Golla shares the coaches’ opinion on the match against Sweden and the Drux injury, “Everyone was motivated and willing to do it better compared to the double-header against Denmark in March. But unfortunately we repeated the same mistakes we made in the last games. We simply had a bad efficiency, made too many simple technical mistakes - and then were punished harshly by Sweden. But of course all of that is secondary. When a team-mate gets injured like that, they are 'heads down' already. We tried to finish it properly, but first get well soon Paul, of course!”

Even if Germany would not take any points against Spain, there will be a 'first' at Sunday's match: The new ‘coach’s challenge’ rule will be tested for the first time in this EHF EURO Cup match in a move aimed at increasing the fairness and integrity of handball.

Germany’s problem remains the same since Gislason took over in February 2022 - no big points and victories against top teams in official matches, with the exception of two wins against Norway at the 2021 Olympic Games and the 2023 World Championship. When it comes to matches against teams such as France, Denmark, Sweden or Spain, the newly-formed team is yet to win. But to be successful at home next year, they have to do so.

Some former top players such as Uwe Gensheimer, Johannes Bitter, Patrick Wiencek or Hendrik Pekeler have quit playing for the national team (or announced a “break”), while young guns like Julian Köster have to gain experience. The only true stars are currently goalkeeper Andreas Wolff and 23-year-old playmaker Juri Knorr, both were part of the All-star Team at the World Championship in January. Besides, defence boss and line player Johannes Golla belongs to Europe’s best on his position.

But to count on those it not enough, as the team is still searching for the right composition of the middle block in defence and has lost its efficiency in attack. Therefore they need to beat Spain on Sunday - not only to take the first points and maybe leave the bottom position, but mainly for gaining confidence and proving themselves that they have the power to beat a big nation.

But the match at Sweden was under another special focus; four men’s team debutants were on court, three of them - Renars Uscins, Justus Fischer and Max Beneke - aim to become U21 World Champions on home court in June, the fourth is Philipp Ahouansou, who is also 21 years old.

“Those boys are very willing to learn, get involved and perform well in training. They played their part well in Sweden. We cannot expect miracles from them, and they were nervous. But just look on Renars Uscins, who came in after the break and was our driving force in attack”, said Golla. Despite the defeat in his debut, Uscins was happy, “It was a very nice experience, I am personally happy with my debut and my performance. It's a lot of fun playing for Germany.”

“I think the final result at Sweden was really a pity. But for me personally it's obviously a great thing. I am incredibly proud. When you start playing handball, you dream of being part of the senior national team. The fact that I have done it now and therefore I fulfilled my dream is by no means the end, but of course it's incredible”, added line player Justus Fischer. Maybe those young guns cannot only imprint the U21 world championship, but also the EHF EURO 2024.