Where it said "world champion" on it, there wasn't much "world champion" in it. For the German selection, however, it was enough what the Danish national coach Nikolaj Jacobsen had offered. A colorful mixture of experienced bench pressers, as far as international matches are concerned, a few renowned forces and many talents put the German national handball team in its place.

In part, the Germans were so inferior that the good impressions of the last World Cup almost faded: Neither at 23:30 on Thursday in Aalborg nor at 21:28 on Sunday afternoon in Hamburg, the selection of the German Handball Federation (DHB) came close enough to their performance limit to scare the Danes without their stars. Both times it was thanks to Andreas Wolff in goal that the result remained within bearable limits. He brought hands, feet or other body parts to the ball 17 times on Sunday, proving his world-class form of the World Cup.

But when listing pleasant moments, the narrative falters at this point. There was not much more positive to report from these two sobering performances. National coach Alfred Gislason said: "We hoped we would finish better in these games. We were far away from a team like Denmark. I'm very disappointed with our attacking performances." In addition to Thursday's 25 missed shots, 23 were added on Sunday: "Our attacking performance breaks our neck in both games."

All in all, this was a damper on the way to the home European Championships in 2024, where the Germans want to catch up with the top quartet and come close to the medals. But in the form of these days, the way is very far to Sweden, Spain, France and the world champion Denmark. Holey at the back, predictable at the front, often driven, full of weak throws: it would be an understatement to say that a lot of work awaits Gislason.

Gracious Audience

Lesson? Left winger Lukas Mertens found this exaggerated: "It's not for nothing that the Danes have become world champions three times in a row. They were simply better in both games, but that was also due to the fact that we beat ourselves with our technical errors and poor shooting rate."

The audience – 12,000 people filled the arena in the Volkspark – was still merciful, acknowledged every goal with applause, was even thrilled when Juri Knorr scored after Kempa trick to the 21:28 final score. Knorr had tried a lot, was the best German shooter with nine goals, but he also often got stuck, did not get through: After his strong World Cup, it will be a new experience that the opponents adapt to him and his game.

With a throwing efficiency of less than 40 percent, there was little to do against the Danes, who made their defense more offensive early in the first half, moved out on playmaker Knorr and presented the Germans with an unsolvable task for them.

"Huge gaps"

Already on Thursday in North Jutland, when the Germans were behind with ten goals in between, there was no danger from the backcourt shooters. At this point, Julian Köster from Gummersbach was greatly missed. Both at the back of the inner block with captain Johannes Golla and up front as a thrower with speed and accuracy, Köster can no longer be replaced.

He had travelled to Damp in Schleswig-Holstein with a cold, did not train, dropped out for the first game in Aalborg and went home early. Thus, Gislason could not try out further defensive formations in this course as hoped. Gislason summed up: "We just had good phases in defence, but also huge gaps. But I'm confident that we'll get better before the European Championships and show better performances again."

The DHB selection continues its games on 27 April in Sweden and on 30 April in Berlin against Spain. Then it's also about winning the first points in the EHF Euro Cup. So far, the Germans are scoreless last in this competition of nations that are qualified for the next European Championship. Upcoming tasks that seem overpowering according to the current impression. "We play against teams," said Lukas Mertens, "who were in their own league at the World Cup. For us, in the months leading up to the European Championships, it's about shortening the gap." The impression that this distance could be bridged was severely disturbed by the performances against the Danish B selection.