Olympic qualification for the German handball players: with scratches to Paris

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Alfred Gíslason is allowed to continue as national coach after days of tension

Photo: Ronny Hartmann / AFP

After the cathartic victory on Sunday, the German handball players gathered in front of a large blue ticket.

“Ticket to Paris” was written on it.

Players jumped and shouted with joy after qualifying for the Summer Olympics in Paris by finishing second in a four-team tournament.

The victories against Algeria and Austria seemed befitting, especially in front of their home crowd in Hanover.

Nevertheless, Germany had previously made life difficult for itself.

And it wasn't just about the performance on the plate, but also at the association level.

Before the tournament, the DHB announced the extension of the contract with national coach Alfred Gíslason until 2027, but only on the condition of successful qualification for the Olympic Games.

It was something like saying yes in front of the altar with the addition that the vow only came into force if the honeymoon was completely free of arguments.

The intended calm on this issue turned into the opposite: Suddenly it seemed that the team had to save their coach's job, the tabloids spoke of "probation officers".

Gíslason himself reacted extremely angrily to the questions and even spoke of his own withdrawal.

DHB President Andreas Michelmann even talked about a “potential successor” on ARD.

Despite all the celebration, these days could leave real scars in internal relations.

And the question remains: How did it get so heated?

Doubts about Gíslason have been growing since the European Championships

At the end of January, in the rush of the home European Championship, the mood seemed completely different.

Germany reached the big goal of the semi-finals, put up a strong defense and often got the crowd on their side.

Gíslason made it clear in every interview that he wanted to work with this young team for a long time.

It wasn't just lip service coming from him: the man has won almost everything in handball, from the championship to the Champions League;

To this day, he describes it as his greatest achievement to have formed a Magdeburg team made up of young players in the early noughties.

“For this, I was hit in the face by everyone like never before,” is how the Icelander describes it in his robust manner. He was generally considered the right man for the role of further developer and “rock in the surf” for the young talents.

There was no reason to doubt Gíslason, said DHB President Michelmann at the time.

But shortly afterwards the second reading of the European Championship spread that the selection had only won four of nine tournament games.

That the tempo game and the variance in the positional attack left a lot to be desired.

Or that the second row wasn't included enough.

The long-time DHB Vice President Bob Hanning addressed exactly these points in “Sport Bild”, just wanted to shake his head at the general satisfaction and gave an overall grade of 4.

Hanning may sometimes exaggerate with his outfits and statements, but the content touched a nerve in the industry.

At the end of February, Stefan Kretzschmar also brought up the successful Magdeburg coach Bennet Wiegert as a potential national coach on “Dyn”.

Gíslason has been in the business for 50 years, as he puts it.

Those comments could have rolled off him.

But he criticized Hanning in his reply that he was not a handball luminary.

And Kretzschmar, as an official of the Füchse Berlin, only wanted to create a "disturbance" with championship rivals Magdeburg, said Gíslason.

The sound became harsher, the wind changed.

At the latest, the contract extension with the tick “Olympic qualification” at the beginning of March gave rise to doubts at the DHB.

The Grand Seigneur Gíslason had to see himself as a “trainer by the grace of the association” – and his mood inevitably worsened.

The coach looks irritated

Last Tuesday he said in a media round: "There was also the possibility that we would make the Olympics and I wouldn't continue." For the first time, the Icelander had hinted at the possibility of withdrawing.

When SPIEGEL asked about this, he became annoyed: "How many times do I have to explain this, that's the question!?" And emphasized the possible option of ending the cooperation - from his side.

The DHB could have avoided all the chaos anyway by making a decision after the Olympic qualification: Gíslason's original contract ran until the summer.

At the association they didn't understand what the problem was.

The board member Axel Kromer said that clarity had been created.

"There was no unrest in our team." In fact, Gíslason's contract wasn't a big issue in the dressing room, we hear from the players, even if quite a few found the whole thing strange.

But the team was too focused on the Olympics and had to struggle with completely different uncertainties on the plate.

The structure still appears volatile.

The automatisms don't yet work to allow us to act more unpredictably in attack.

Too much depends on middleman Juri Knorr, but the 23-year-old is currently in a difficult phase at the club.

On Saturday against Croatia, the German team was 4-0 down in the first five minutes and was six goals behind at halftime.

The throwing effectiveness was just 50 percent.

At least the selection showed their nerves against Austria and - led by an outstanding 21-year-old Renārs Uščins - earned the ticket to France.

More breathing than breakthrough.

The Olympic tournament starting at the end of July offers a great opportunity for the athletes and the reputation of the sport.

However, to achieve a good result, Germany must minimize its mistakes.

On and off the record.