The “Mission Gold” was remarkably seldom mentioned among German handball players.

Internally, it was agreed that this was an idea of ​​Bob Hanning, the dazzling Vice President of the German Handball Federation (DHB), to bring the team and association together behind a goal for years.

No, the professionals like Kai Häfner or Hendrik Pekeler had preferred to point out that when the quarter-finals were reached, the medal games were only one game away - and so they encouraged themselves to be in this difficult group.

The players and coach Alfred Gislason will need courage, luck and above all more cleverness if the Olympic handball tournament is not to enter the decisive phase without them. After a wild ride, the DHB team lost against France on Wednesday evening (local time) in Tokyo at 29:30. It was the Germans' second defeat in Group A, and should there be another defeat against Norway on Friday, Gislasons Seven would have a final against Brazil for fourth place next Sunday - four teams per season reach the quarter-finals. So the elimination games can still be reached. The catch: World champions and Olympic champions Denmark would be waiting for Germany to finish fourth in the group.

"We have the plan to defeat the French," said DHB sports director Axel Kromer before the game. It is time for the national team to beat a big one again. It didn't look like that at break. As against Spain and Argentina, the team slept through the start, quickly trailing 2: 7.

France offered an over-30 selection led by Nikola Karabatic - the 37-year-old is back after his cruciate ligament rupture.

The Germans had neither the guts nor ideas how to deal with these French.

Gislason had called up fresh forces in Kai Häfner and Julius Kühn in the back room.

Both remained ineffective - as in the entire tournament.

But as inhibited as the Germans began, they can fight, and so they survived a 9:15 deficit, which they converted into a 13:16 by half time.

The Germans had already given five free litters.

Play at a knife edge

With goalkeeper Andreas Wolff, who replaced the hapless Johannes Bitter, and more courage and energy, the DHB selection came out of the cabin. Again and again Steffen Weinhold rummaged through the defense and scored, Timo Kastening from the far right finally ensured freshness and cheek. Pekeler even made it 19:18 in the 39th minute. But again the Germans made life difficult for themselves: the defense suddenly full of holes, the front gaps were not right - France took the lead 22:19. But they, too, Olympic champions of 2008 and 2012, lacked structure and calm, it was an open game on the knife edge - as is so often the case when these two teams meet.

Wolff kept the Germans in the game, who had to work hard for each goal. Playmaker Steffen Weber found no help in his representative Juri Knorr; after two or three mistakes, Gislason took young Knorr out again. Weber, Paul Drux and Weinhold rubbed each other on in the back room, were inferior to the French in terms of size and therefore did not manage to score easy goals from a great distance. But Germany came with passion through Kastening's counter-attack to 28:28 (57th minute). Then it was two bad passes by the exhausted Drux that put Germany on the loser road - his runaway pass at 59 minutes and 19 seconds made it possible for France to make the 30:28 and the decision.

The only thing that remained for Gislason's players was the realization that more would have been possible against these high-profile competitors. A conclusion that the DHB is familiar with even with the new national coach.