What will Germany take into the main round?
There is one piece of positive news from the German handball men even before Tuesday’s group final against Poland. Alfred Gislason’s team has already booked their place in the main round. But now the final match will be about how many points the DHB men will take with them or whether they will have to go into the upcoming matches with empty pockets.
Germany and Poland won their two matches against Belarus and Austria respectively. Therefore, the first two places are awarded to these two teams and thus there are surely four more duels in the main round for both teams. Austria and Belarus, on the other hand, will give their farewell performance in Bratislava on Tuesday.
Spain, probably Russia, Sweden and Norway will be the opponents in the main round. Only the first two in this group of six will make it to the semifinals. Therefore, it would be extremely important for the German team to take two points with them with a victory over the Poles.
The Poles, however, have performed slightly better than the German team in the two games and have a five-goal lead over Alfred Gislason’s team on goal difference. Therefore, we do not see the Germans as favourites and can imagine placing a bet on a Polish success between Poland and Germany.
Poland – Statistics & current form
Honestly, a strong Polish team was rather not expected at this European Championship. The Red and Whites had many absences after positive test results, but Patryk Rombel has formed this team into a real unit, so that the absences are no longer a factor. Nevertheless, the Poles are ambitious and making it to the main round should not be the end of the line yet.
Broad chest for the red and whites
In general, the Polish team has built up a broad chest in the last few international matches. In the last six games, the Red and Whites have only lost one match, against the European champions from Spain. Therefore, it sounds as if the odds on a Polish victory in the match between Poland and Germany should definitely be scrutinised.
In the opening match against Austria, the Poles basically didn’t have much trouble. The Polish team took the lead early on and never relinquished it. In the end, they won 36:31, with Arkadiusz Moryto playing himself to the fore with nine goals. The second match against Belarus started with a broad chest.
The second victory cannot be attributed to the absences of Team Belarus, even if Patryk Rombel’s team was at least favoured in this match. For a long time, the game was on the line. Only when Belarus played all or nothing, the Poles pulled away in the final phase and won with 29:20 clearly higher than the game actually indicated.
The Poland squad:
Goal: Kornecki, Zembrzycki
Back: Jedraszczyk, Olejniczak, Pilitowski, Sicko, Pietrasik, Beckman, Daszek, Zarzycki, Przybylski
Left wing: Czaplinski, Krajewski
Right wing: Komarzewski, Moryto
Circle: Walczak, Syprzak, Gebala
Coach: Rombel
Last matches of Poland:
European Championships Preliminary Round Grp. D
01/16 2022 – Belarus 20 – 29 Poland
01/14 2022 – Austria 31 – 36 Poland
Friendlies
01/08 2022 – Poland 25 – 26 Spain
01/07 2022 – Poland 35 – 29 Iran
11/06 2021 – Sweden 32 – 28 Poland
Germany – Statistics & current form
In the run-up to the World Cup, it was already speculated that the German team would have a hard time. However, in one of the easiest groups of the preliminary round, the German men have already asserted themselves early on. However, the problems, especially in the defence, are still obvious. On Tuesday against the Poles, they will have to be more stable if they want to enter the main round with points.
Winning streak underway
But all in all, the German team is in good form. They currently have four victories to their credit, including one against France. The only problem is that the DHB men are always behind at the break and have to turn the games around with a show of strength in the second period.
We therefore dare to predict that in the duel between Poland and Germany, the Polish team will take the reins at first. Alfred Gislason’s team was behind at half-time against Belarus and Austria. Apparently, the coach always found the right words for his players to turn the match around.
Against Belarus, Kai Häfner was the player of the match, against the Austrians Timo Kastening was the best man on the board, with keeper Till Klimpke also performing strongly this time. Nevertheless, Andreas Wolff is likely to play against the Poles, if only because he is under contract with Vive Kielce in the Polish league. Julius Kühn will still be missing in this last preliminary round match after his positive test.
The squad of Germany:
Goal: Wolff, Birlehm, Klimpke
Back: Köster, Weber, Ernst, Witzke, Heymann, Kühn, M’Bengue, Häfner, Steinert
Left wing: Schiller, Mertens
Right wing: Zerbe, Kastening
Circle: Golla, Wienczek, Kohlbacher
Coach: Gislason
Last matches of Germany:
European Championships Preliminary Round Grp. D
01/16 2022 – Germany 34 – 29 Austria
01/14 2022 – Germany 33 – 29 Belarus
Friendlies
01/09 2022 – Germany 35 – 34 France
01/07 2022 – Germany 30 – 26 Switzerland
11/07 2021 – Germany 30 – 32 Portugal
Poland – Germany Direct comparison / H2H balance
There are only seven nations against which the German men’s handball team has played more often. A total of 67 direct duels are on the books. In direct comparisons, the Germans have done better. After victories, the German team is ahead with 40:21. Six duels ended in a draw.
The Red and Whites have now waited seven games for a win against the German team. Poland last won twice in a row in World Cup qualifying in June 2014. The last encounter took place almost exactly a year ago. In the main round of the World Cup in Egypt, the two opponents parted with a 23:23 draw.
Poland – Germany tip
The big pressure for both teams is already off after the safe entry into the main round. Both teams have already achieved their goal in this tournament. Everything that is still to come is a bonus. The opponents waiting in the main round will be much tougher than the Poles, so the DHB men really need a win to at least keep all their options open.
However, Alfred Gislason’s team should make sure that they don’t let the first half go to waste again on Tuesday. Obviously, it will be much harder to turn the match around against the Red and Whites. We think that we will hold back on betting on a German victory in the duel between the Poles and Germany.
We expect this duel to go down to the wire over 60 minutes. We think wins for both teams are possible, but we think that the Poles have the slightly better chances.
