Germany handball team fails to make European Championship final
The Germany handball team have missed out on a place in the final of the European Championship on home soil, after losing in the semi-final to Denmark on Friday.
The team, led by trainer Alfred Gislason, lost to World Champions Denmark 26-29 and so will have to wait a bit longer for its third European title. The German team won in 2004 and 2016.
"I'm very proud of the boys, they delivered a phenomenal first half. In the second half, we threw (the ball) away too much. In the end, Denmark's experience won, they are the best team in the world," Gislason told broadcasters ZDF.
Some 19,750 spectators were at the stadium in Cologne for the semi-final game.
"Today was not the perfect day," captain Johannes Golla said.
Despite the defeat, the dream of a first medal at a major tournament since Olympic bronze in 2016 and the European championship gold in that same year lives on. The German team will face record European champions Sweden in the match for third place on Sunday.
This is Germany's first chance in five years of winning a medal. Their last opportunity came in 2019, at the world championships, when they lost the match for third place to France.
Denmark, meanwhile, secured a spot at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games and will now vie for the European title in Sunday’s final game against France.
The game will be a rematch of the final at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games that saw France claim the gold medal while Denmark settled for silver.
