At the Olympics, of all times, Germany’s handball players showed the worst attacking performance of the year. After the game, many tears flowed – and now a medal favorite was waiting.
Germany’s handball players looked as if their exit from the Olympic Games had already been sealed. Only with their last strength could co-captains Alina Grijseels and Emily Bölk hold back their tears after the opening defeat against South Korea. Antje Döll, on the other hand, let her emotions run free. “Sorry,” sobbed the left winger as she entered the interview zone after the 22:23 (10:11) defeat. Then, completely dejected, she looked for explanations for one of the worst attacking performances of the DHB women this year.
“I don’t know what was going on. We worked our asses off for five weeks. It sucks when you don’t get rewarded for it. We lost the game in attack,” analyzed Döll, who was the DHB’s best scorer with six goals. Meanwhile, her teammates shuffled past her with empty looks and hanging heads. Each of them knew that they had just missed a big step towards the quarter-finals.
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. The fact is: The team around co-captain Bölk, for whom this was the first appearance at the Olympic Games since 2008 in Beijing, is now under a lot of pressure.
For weeks, the DHB women had been meticulously dealing with the issue of distraction. National coach Markus 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.
Clear error analysis and clear approach
Gaugisch announced a “clear error analysis and a clear speech”. At the same time, the 50-year-old tried to encourage his players: “The tournament is not over,” said Gaugisch. Even Döll had regained her optimism after a few minutes. “Nothing has happened yet,” said the 35-year-old, despite the diminished prospects of progressing.
The DHB team had a nervous start and made too many technical errors. 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 was suddenly 8:10 behind. Gaugisch seemed at a loss on the sidelines.
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). But then mistakes crept in again and South Korea came back into the game. In the end, the DHB women were deeply disappointed.
Source: Stern
I am Pierce Boyd, a driven and ambitious professional working in the news industry. I have been writing for 24 Hours Worlds for over five years, specializing in sports section coverage. During my tenure at the publication, I have built an impressive portfolio of articles that has earned me a reputation as an experienced journalist and content creator.
