Journey home without a medal: Pure frustration: Handball player according to the World Cup in the mood

After a largely sleepless night, the deeply disappointed German handball players flew home without the hoped-for World Cup. Before leaving, goalkeeper Andreas Wolff dismantled his frustration over the dramatic end of the quarter-finals against Portugal and thus the early end of all medal dreams before he left. At the same time, national coach Alfred Gislason tried to gain something positive at breakfast in the mixed World Cup appearance of the Olympic runners-up that started with great expectations.

“There are also difficult moments and of course it hurts when you see that the players had to suffer. But I have a lot of fun with the team and I would like to thank her for this difficult month. I think the boys with the problems, We had, handled out and grew as a team, “said Gislason the day after the dramatic 30:31 against Portugal.

At 8.45 a.m. the Icelander got on the bus and drove to the airport with a first DHB group around Juri Knorr and Renars. Captain Johannes Golla and goalkeeper Wolff fulfilled a few autograph requests and started their journey home around two hours later.

National coach wants to continue

Despite the sporting setback, Gislason confirmed the will to fulfill his contract until the 2027 World Cup. “Yes, why not? I have a lot of fun with the team. I do this job because I love handball and I am proud to work for Germany,” said the 65-year-old.

On the part of the association, there are currently no efforts to reorganize the sporting leadership. “In the end there is an end in the quarter-finals, about which we are of course not happy about. But we will analyze it in peace to further promote the development of the team. Alfred will be thinking about it without time pressure,” said DHB sports director Ingo Meckes .

With his assessment that “this tournament was a step forward”, the national coach was largely alone. “Of course it is a setback for German handball,” said Stefan Kretzschmar, sports director of the Füchse Berlin, in the handball talk “Harzblut”.

There was also criticism from Johannes Bitter. “We need the first 20 minutes in almost every game to learn and understand what the opponent is doing at all. I honestly wonder: where is the preparation,” complained the long -time national goalkeeper.

Gislason himself had no plausible explanation for the starting difficulties that ran through the tournament like a thread. “I don’t know why we came into play so hard every time,” admitted the national coach.

Knorr: You are like in a trance

As was the case with the final round two years ago, when the final station was in the quarter-finals against France, it was therefore not enough for the semi-finals or even the first World Cup medal since the Gold Triumph 2007. “It hurts because it was a huge chance, that we missed.

Goalkeeper Wolff, who offered an outstanding performance with 21 parades, called for a timely internal reappraisal of the early failure at the final round in Denmark, Croatia and Norway before departure home. “We have to work up a lot. I have my thoughts on why it wasn’t enough. But I will not share them publicly,” said the goalkeeper from the German record champion THW Kiel.

After the final whistle of the handball drama in Oslo, the 33-year-old had let his feelings run free on the floor and scolded like a pipe sparrow. At the subsequent interview marathon in the Arena catacombs, Wolff did not want to pillor his teammates. “I am frustrated and annoyed, but I don’t blame them. It hurts to leave out like this. But I’m not going to move through my team now,” said the 2016 European champion.

DHB team far from Olympic shape

That was not necessary either, because the problems in the entire course of the tournament were obvious. With the exception of the class goalkeeper Wolff and David Späth, no other service provider achieved a constant top level. Service -start uscins seemed overplayed after an outstanding previous year, Julian Köster only found his form in phases after a long injury, Knorr failed for two games and captain Golla was also noticeable.

“One or the other was unusually broken after the Olympics. We lacked the strength on certain positions. It was not to be overlooked that we had problems, especially on the right, because USCins was largely alone,” said Gislason.

In addition, there were some failures from illnesses or injuries. This could not be compensated for in total. “We are happy about more width in the squad, but you also need them against strong opponents. Many are still young and inexperienced. That is the reality,” said Gislason about the performance gap within the team that could not be overlooked.

Short -term solutions are not in sight. “We have to see what we can do for the next few months. Of course it is a great concern from me if two players are struck in certain positions and there is nothing to see. But that’s not a thing that we can quickly solve”, said Gislason.

Knorr nevertheless ventured an optimistic outlook into the near future. “I think we have a good team that is prepared for the next few years, but of course also has to learn from it,” said the 24-year-old and announced: “We will attack again next year.”