Big fight, narrow defeat: The German handball players missed the hoped-for sense of achievement at the start of the Olympic Games.

The team of national coach Alfred Gislason lost against European champions Spain with 27:28 (13:12) and suffered a severe setback in the fight for the medal they were aiming for.

“We did a lot of things right today. And in the last two minutes things happened that you don't want to see in handball, ”said Johannes Bitter about the hectic final phase. He had to take a closer look at two actions. “But we saw an opponent who deliberately got the ball wet to put us at a disadvantage,” said the goalkeeper. “Maybe that's how you play at this level. We don't do that. "

His teammates also struggled with the last two minutes after the final whistle.

“I'm trying to find words because I'm really pissed off,” said director Philipp Weber (SC DHfK Leipzig), referring to two controversial striker foul decisions by the referees in the final phase: “But of course we'd have that beforehand Have to close the sack.

That was pointed out and in the end very annoying for us.

"Everything is still open"

DHB Vice President Bob Hanning saw in the final phase "perhaps too many technical errors, but many correct decisions have also been made". Defense specialist Finn Lemke (MT Melsungen), referred to by Hanning as the “emotional leader”, called it “actually a good sign that we were able to keep up with Spain so well. Everything is still open. ”Hendrik Pekeler (THW Kiel) also criticized the two alleged German striker fouls in the last few seconds:“ I think Steffen (Weinhold, editor) didn't touch the Spaniard at all.

The top scorer of the DHB selection in the Yoyogi National Stadium in Tokyo was Steffen Weinhold (THW Kiel) with five goals, his club colleague Pekeler met four times.

In the next game in group A, the German team will face Argentina on Monday (4.00 a.m. CEST / ZDF and Eurosport).

The other opponents are record world champions France, the European Championship third Norway and Brazil.

The first four teams in the group of six advance to the quarter-finals.

Six debutants

"In a tournament like this, it is extremely important how you get in", Gislason emphasized the importance of the game - and immediately set an example.

Instead of the long-time regular goalkeeper Andreas Wolff, the Icelander, who celebrated his Olympic premiere in the coaching bench after two appearances as a player on Saturday, initially relied on Johannes Bitter.

So to that bitter who, with his 165th international match at the age of 38 years and 325 days, rose to become the oldest handball player ever to appear for Germany at the Olympic Games.

Juri Knorr, one of six Olympic debutants in the German team, also set a record on Saturday: At 21 years and 76 days, he replaced Jochen Fratz as the youngest Olympic handball player in DHB history.

The team oldie, who will experience his second summer games in Tokyo after Beijing in 2008, justified the trust from the start.

Also thanks to Bitter's parades, the DHB selection turned an early deficit (1: 3) and quickly took over the command.

However, a few missed throws, three of them by captain Uwe Gensheimer, prevented the German team from continuing to break away after the 9: 6.

The break started with a wafer-thin lead.

The Spaniards got the better start in the second section.

With their flexible cover, the German team were increasingly confronted with problems, the experienced Iberians (average age 33.8 years) consistently used their chances until 19:16.

In the final phase, the European champions were lucky and the Swedish referees were on their side in three controversial decisions.