European Championship qualification: Gislason rages: handball player with a rumbling appearance in Turkey

First Alfred Gislason raged during a time out, then the national coach clearly criticized the German handball players’ poor performance in the last game of the year. With a lackluster 36:29 (20:14) victory in Turkey, the Olympic silver medalist celebrated his second success in qualifying for the 2026 European Championships after the convincing 35:26 at the start against Switzerland. A good two months before the World Cup, the DHB selection revealed some weaknesses, to the displeasure of the national coach.

“I’m not happy at all. We made a lot of technical errors in the first half and made one stupid mistake after another after the break. This is waking up the hall and the Turkish team. That shouldn’t happen,” complained Gislason the unconvincing performance of his protégés in Ankara and added disappointedly: “Everyone wants to show themselves for the World Cup. Not everyone succeeded today.”

Uscins is self-critical

The best throwers for the DHB team, which was plagued by new personnel concerns, were right winger Lukas Zerbe and backcourt player Marko Grgic, each with eight goals. With 4-0 points, Germany leads the table in Group 7 and can now concentrate on the World Cup in January.

Backcourt ace Renars Uscins, who scored six times, classified the poor performance as an important experience on the way there. “Of course we’re not happy with the game. At some point we no longer had a functioning defense. We have to do a better job of that, after all we’re all playing in the Bundesliga. We’ve seen what happens when things don’t go well. Then there’s a lack of coordination.” said the U21 world champion.

Short-term failure of Steinert

In addition to captain Johannes Golla, who did not even start the trip due to muscular problems, the German team had to cope with another short-term loss. Christoph Steinert suffered a broken metacarpal during the final training session on Saturday evening and will be out for several weeks. It remains to be seen whether the 34-year-old veteran will be fit for the World Cup. The DHB team already had to do without the injured backcourt players Juri Knorr, Julian Köster, Franz Semper and Philipp Weber.

The absence of the two defense specialists Golla and Steinert forced Gislason to make further changes. This had an impact right from the start, when the German team was still finding its way. Only goalkeeper Andreas Wolff, who was on the floor as captain for the first time in his 171st international match, was immediately wide awake. With numerous saves, the 33-year-old prevented the DHB team from making a false start.

Longer wait for the first goal

It wasn’t until four and a half minutes later that the Olympic silver medalist scored his first goal – but after that it happened quickly. In the middle of the first half, the favorites were already leading by seven goals at 10:3. After that, however, the sloppiness took hold. The Turks took advantage of this and got within four goals six minutes before the break.

Gislason reacted with a time-out in which he roused his charges with clear words. The wake-up call had an effect, because the DHB team picked up again and went into the dressing room with a six-goal cushion. “We have to be a little more focused and better at retreating,” demanded the new national team manager Benjamin Chatton during the half-time break.

Gislason gets loud in time out

But none. With many slight mistakes, the European Championship fourth-placed team allowed the Turks to get within three goals at 24:21. Gislason again took a break in which he demanded loudly: “Damn it, you have to accelerate more. Go where it hurts and fight a little.”

However, his protégés continued to struggle, especially since Wolff no longer had the strong support he had at the beginning. In the middle of the second half he had to give up his place between the posts for Joel Birlehm. It was only in the final phase that the DHB team had the game back under control and increased the result.