The German handball players have secured silver. Will they now pull off a major coup against the favorites from Denmark in the final?
Even coach Alfred Gislason was unstoppable after the latest thriller. In the first semi-final in Lille, the DHB team beat Spain 25:24 (12:12) and is in an Olympic final for the first time since 2004. Silver is thus assured, but now gold is to be won. On Sunday, on the last day of the Olympic Games, Germany will face Denmark in the final (from 1:30 p.m. in the SPORTS1-Ticker).
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Here’s how you can watch Germany – Denmark live:
Gislason: “We have to deliver our best game of the tournament”
The Scandinavians are considered the big favorites and have been unbeatable so far. They also narrowly beat Slovenia 31:30. For the DHB coach, the roles are clearly assigned. ZDF he said: “We know that they are the clear favorites, but we still want to win this game and we know that to do so we have to play the best game of the tournament.”
He also said: “I am sure that the boys are focused on the game. It is great that we have reached the final. We have already beaten some favourites and now the Danes are our opponents.”
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In the preliminary round, Denmark won five of their five matches. This was followed by successes against Sweden and Slovenia. The last two matches also showed that Denmark can be beaten. The favourites will also have realised that Germany has a big trump card to play.
Olympia: Will Wolff become the X-factor again?
In front of around 20,000 spectators in the semi-finals on Friday, goalkeeper Andreas Wolff put on a magnificent performance. Whether with his arm, with his leg at head height or with his shoulder: with an incredible 22 saves and a rate that was over 50 percent for a long time, the goalkeeper drove the Spanish shooters to despair – and paved the way to the final. Spain scored its last goal in the 53rd minute – after that, Wolff made four saves.
And in the offensive, the DHB can continue to rely on Renars Uscins. The left-hander is set in the backcourt and, after his outstanding 14 goals against France, also delivered in the quarter-final against Spain. With six goals, he was once again the team’s best scorer and took a lot of the load on his shoulders in attack.
