Germany’s women’s handball players have messed up their Olympic debut. Their attacking game is a particular cause for concern. They are still in the quarter-finals – now they are up against a medal favorite.
With empty looks and hanging heads, the frustrated German handball players left the court after their unsuccessful comeback at the Olympic Games. After a partly desolate performance in the attacking game, the selection of national coach Markus Gaugisch lost their opening game against South Korea 22:23 (10:11) and missed a big step towards the quarter-finals.
The best scorer for the DHB team was left winger Antje Döll, who scored six goals and shed bitter tears after the final whistle. “That was simply not enough. We are disappointed all around,” said the 35-year-old, adding: “We worked our asses off for five weeks. It sucks when you don’t get rewarded for it.”
Difficult tasks await
On Sunday, the DHB women are underdogs in their duel with Sweden. Other opponents in the preliminary round are the top Scandinavian teams from Denmark and Norway, as well as the supposedly weaker Slovenians. The best four teams from the group of six qualify for the knockout phase.
“Defeats suck. But I’m not going to say that we’re going home,” said center Meike Schmelzer about the diminished prospects of progressing. Döll also didn’t want to write off the quarter-finals: “Nothing has happened yet and I don’t want to paint anything black. But it’s just annoying.”
The fact is: The team around co-captain Emily Bölk, for whom this was the first appearance at the Olympic Games since 2008 in Beijing, is now under enormous pressure in the upcoming group matches.
Faulty initial phase
For weeks, the DHB women had been meticulously dealing with the issue of distraction. National coach Gaugisch wanted to ensure that the focus remained on the sport despite all the exciting external impressions. Whatever measures those in charge had taken, they had no effect whatsoever.
The DHB team got off to a nervous start, made too many technical errors and missed a seven-meter throw. The German defense was good, but the attack lacked precision against the small and agile South Koreans. Bölk, Xenia Smits and Co. hardly had any easy shots at all.
After leading by two goals at one point, the DHB team suddenly found themselves 8:10 behind. Gaugisch seemed at a loss on the sidelines. His players on the court showed one of their worst performances of the year in the first half and were never able to confirm the upward trend from the test matches.
Döll’s goal brings the turnaround
The DHB team was unable to overcome its lack of concentration after the break. Poor finishes repeatedly ruined the good defensive work. The fact that Germany was still fully in the game, at least in terms of the result, was due to South Korea also allowing too many ball losses.
When Döll finally put her team back in the lead 21 minutes before the end of the game (13:12), there was cheering on the German bench. The South Korean defense seemed to have cracked the code and the DHB team pulled ahead by four goals (18:14). Then mistakes crept in again and South Korea came back into the game. In the end, the DHB women were deeply disappointed.
Source: Stern
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