Germany's handball players failed in the Olympic quarter-finals and are returning from the summer games in Tokyo after a disappointing performance without the hoped-for medal.
The DHB selection was defeated on Tuesday against Egypt with 26:31 (12:16) and was eliminated.
The best thrower for the team of national coach Alfred Gislason, whom the association had signed for the medal mission in February 2020, was Julius Kühn with six goals.
Instead of the German team, which had won bronze in Rio in 2016, Egypt will now play against record world champions France on Thursday for a place in the final.
The second semi-final contests Olympic and world champions Denmark against European champions Spain.
At 29:27 in the last Olympic test, the DHB team had clearly dominated the Egyptians.
But this superiority was no longer seen in the knockout duel at the Yoyogi National Stadium.
The German team found no means at all against the offensive defense of the Africa champions.
The result was a quick 5-1 deficit after nine minutes.
The false start forced Gislason to take a very early break, during which he made tactical and personal corrections.
For Paul Drux, Kühn moved into the left back space. The 28-year-old from MT Melsungen got off to a good start with two goals in a row. But in the defense, the DHB selection did not get access to the agile Egyptians, so that they could not make the connection. On the contrary: After 20 minutes, the fifth place in the European Championship was still behind with four goals at 7:11.
The inclusion of youngster Juri Knorr, who shone with six goals at 29:25 in the decisive group game against Brazil, did not pay off either.
The attack efforts of the DHB selection seemed helpless against aggressively defending Egyptians.
So the Gislason troops took the heavy mortgage of a four-goal deficit with them into the cabin.
“Egypt is difficult to stop in attack and very flexible in defense.
We have to get more moving, ”said DHB sports director Axel Kromer during the half-time break.
But it didn't get better, because the Egyptians didn't let up and kept the DHB team at a distance.
A goalkeeper change - Johannes Bitter came for Andreas Wolff - hardly had any effect.
With ten minutes to go, Germany was still behind with four goals at 21:25.
The hoped-for final spurt also failed to materialize. Rather, the DHB team made a lot of bad throws and slight ball losses, which Gislason pursued on the sideline with a grim expression and arms crossed in front of his chest. So the Egyptians had an easy time of it and never got into trouble.