| Handball News |
Handball News  (22/01/2008) Germany back in the running for Euro title |
After being behind with a nine goals difference, Iceland nearly turned the match against the world champion in Trondheim.
Germany 35:27 Iceland (17:12)
The world champions found themselves back in Euro 2008 by beating Iceland in Trondheim in the opening match of the main round.
Now Germany have four points and still have a chance of reaching the semi final. Iceland are still waiting for their first point in the main round.
Poor start by Iceland
Iceland – although top star Olafur Stefansson was able to play - did not start well in this match.
In the main because they could not unleash their most successful “weapon”, the counter attack.
The German defence stood like a wall, and it was obvious that the world champions would not have too many problems with the Icelanders, they were 6:0 ahead in the eighth minute.
Icelandic coach Alfred Gislasson wisely took his time-out very early to re-motivate and organise his team.
Germany played much better in attack than they had against Spain on Sunday.
First goal after ten minutes
Gudjon Valur Sigurdsson, one of twelve Icelandic players, who play or played their handball in the Bundesliga, redeemed his team by scoring Iceland's first goal after 10 minutes.
Germany increased the gap to 10:3, 13:5 and 15:6, and as Iceland suffered a lot of suspensions, the Germans beat them at their own game, on the counter attack.
The German defence – and goalkeeper Johannes Bitter – played well and the back court players, Hens and Glandorf, criticised after the defeat to Spain, hit the back of the net without much resistance from Iceland.
But in the last minutes of the first half, the scoring percentage of the German decreased and Iceland shortened the gap after 30 minutes to 12:17.
Germans under pressure
In the second half, the Germans lost their pace, both in attack and in defence, and the Icelanders reduced the gap to three goals (17:20 in the 37 minute).
The onslaught was led by Sigurdsson and Stefansson, who scored three consecutive goals taking the score to 20:22.
On the verge of losing the match, the Germans pulled the emergency cord. Two saves by Henning Fritz and a series of four goals in a row sent the world champions 26:21 into the lead.
Goals from Glandorf and Kehrmann as well as an improvement in their defensive performance meant that Germany had more or less pre-decided the match in the 53 minute with the score at 31:23.
Germany though were unable to take a rest in this match and will be tired ahead of the match tomorrow against France.
The top scorers were Holger Glandorf (Germany) with nine goals and Olafur Stefansson (Iceland) with eight goals.
Press statements
Heiner Brand (German coach): “The first 25 minutes were great, then we lost the pace completely and I don’t know why. Iceland came very close in second halftime, but in the end this was a well-deserved victory.”
Alfred Gislasson (Icelandic coach): “The match was lost after twelve minutes. Up until this moment my players were completely asleep. And after I had woken them up, they improved. Surprisingly for me, we had the chance to turn the match, but in the end, Germany was the better team.” |
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