When Alfred Gislason started working as national handball coach three years ago, the bar was set quite high.

Uwe Schwenker, Vice President of the German Handball Federation (DHB), called him a “difference coach”.

Gislason should be someone who makes national players better, who sometimes impresses the referee and the referee and who, in situational coaching, converts the experience of countless big games into the right decisions.

Then came the pandemic.

Gislason was not in demand as a handball teacher, but as a crisis manager.

That's why the previous performance in the three tournaments under him was marked with an asterisk - the legend then said that there were also special circumstances that made for moderate to weak placements.

However, the DHB was further away from the desired semifinals under Gislason than under its predecessor Prokop.

Gislason's reputation suffered.

Before and during this World Cup in Poland and Sweden, the 63-year-old Icelander was finally only allowed to be a handball coach.

Instructor, system developer.

Lo and behold: He finds a language that his not so young, but mostly inexperienced players understand internationally.

He constructs a handball in which everyone feels comfortable.

And in Juri Knorr and Julian Köster he trusts two 22-year-olds who are not only the present, but also the future of German handball.

Lightness, team spirit, joy of playing: handball fans enjoyed all of this for five games.

Fluid attacks across all positions, a cohesion that arose in Bratislava a year ago was more than just lip service and Gislason's courage to also trust the respective understudy combined to form a harmonious whole.

Gislason had to reinvent himself in some areas.

A little more joie de vivre, a little less doggedness and the realization that you can let go, together with refreshing performances, were enough to make the whole structure of the national team seem lighter and less deadly serious than at previous tournaments.

Maybe that's even a bigger achievement than reaching a semi-final.

Juri Knorr represents the new fun in handball.

Gislason and the Germans still missed the semifinals this time.

Against Norway and France, there was simply a lack of individual class and squad width - how could it be otherwise when players from Leipzig, Melsungen and Erlangen meet professionals from Barcelona, ​​Kiel and Kielce in the backcourt.

Every coach has their limits.

The selection could be bigger for the home EM in a year.

Hendrik Pekeler, Timo Kastening, Fabian Wiede and Julius Kühn play in positions that were too weak in the end this time.

If they are added, Gislason can build an interesting team around Juri Knorr, Johannes Golla, Julian Köster and Andreas Wolff, which will actually be considered for medals at the end of January 2024.

After this tournament, there is no question that he will continue to be the national coach.