Handball European Championship: Total madness in Zagreb!

Germany broke up with Slovenia in the second game at the 2018 European Handball Championship in Croatia with 25:25 (10:15). Slovenia already looked like the sure winner. But after the time had elapsed, the Lithuanian referees looked at the repetition of the last German attack for minutes – and then decided on seven meters.

After the 32:19 against Montenegro, Germany will still need a win against Macedonia (Wed, 6.15 p. m. in LIVETICKER) in the final group match to go into the main round in Varazdin.

Against Slovenia, the DHB team had almost no place in the first half. Whether attack, defence or goalkeeper performance – the worm was present everywhere. The 2017 World Cup third place winner, Matej Gaber and Jure Dolenec, Barcelona’s backroom star Jure Dolenec, was far more aggressive after the opening defeat against Macedonia.

So it took more than eleven minutes until Philipp Weber scored the first goal out of the game for Germany 3:5. But the defending champion’s appearance did not improve in the following years. Prokop tried all possible variants in defence and attack, including seventh outfielder, and already in the first 30 minutes in an almost hectic manner, except for Steffen Fäth, the players started all but failed to achieve the desired effect.

In the 21. In the second minute Andreas Wolff, who only managed to defend one of 13 throws in the first round and thus defended a bad eight percent, had to make way between the posts for Silvio Heinevetter. But also the keeper from Berlin, like Wolff from the defence, did not find himself in the match. In the meantime Slovenia was driven by its strong playmaker Miha Zarabec and backroom-shooter Borut Mackovsek with six goals in the lead, into the cabin it went with a 10:15.

In the second round, Germany tried to catch up with the seventh fielder from the beginning. The DHB team benefited enormously from the many penalty times the impulsive coach Veselin Vujovic’s team took.

In the middle of the second half the Slovenians even had to play twice as much for two minutes. Germany took advantage of this well, in 47th place. Gensheimer equalled the second minute to 19:19. Four minutes later, Pekeler even secured the first DHB lead with the 21:20 goal.

Now the game became more and more dramatic, especially the last second of the game was a total madness. Drux equalled 13 seconds before the end, in return Janc scored 25:24 just before the end.

The last German attack was intercepted, time was running out. Now the Lithuanian impartial Mindaugas Gatelis and Vaidas Mazeika came into play. The duo did not declare Slovenia to be the winner, but stared at the screen for several minutes to watch the replay.

Then the decision: Blagotinsek had hindered the German throw. The referees showed him the red card and, as foreseen in the rulebook, gave him a seven-metre penalty for Germany after the time had elapsed. Coach Vujovic was beside himself and initially even scored himself. Eventually Reichmann gathered all the courage and transformed.

Initial formation DHB: Wolff – Gensheimer, Drux, Weber, Weinhold, Groetzki, Pekeler

Goal scorers Germany: Gensheimer (7 – 2 out of 3 seven meters), Groetzki, Reichmann (both 4), Weber (3), Pekeler, Weinhold (both 2), Häfner, Kühn, Drux (all 1)

Goal scorers Slovenia: Zarabec (5), Mackovsek, Janc, Blagotinsek (all 4), Kavticnik, Bezjak (both 3), Cingesar, Mlakar (both 1)

Two-minute time penalty: Germany 3 – Slovenia 8

Almost everything went on about him with the Slovenians. Zarabec kicked off almost every attack, staged his teammates with great passes and made the German team look old with his five goals in seven attempts, even with single actions.

Of course, Wolff’s own defence did not make it easy. However, you have to expect a world-class goalkeeper like the Kieler to hold a ball every now and then. The man from Kiel was not able to do that at all. His quota: 1 out of 13 and thus 8 percent.