July 30, 1980, GDR vs. USSR, Moscow:
Four seconds are left on the clock when right winger Alexander Karsakjewitsch suddenly appears free in front of goalkeeper Wieland Schmidt. Extra time has already started. The fans in Moscow’s Sokolniki Palace scream. Karsakjewitsch throws. And Schmidt parries. It was a reflex for the ages that secured a German team the first title in the Olympic history of indoor handball.
After a 23:22 (20:20, 10:10) against the big gold favorite and host USSR, the GDR team celebrated its sensational success exuberantly. “Beating them in our own hall was actually impossible,” recalled backcourt player Lothar Döring 32 years later in an interview with Handballwoche: “The USSR was a team like from another planet.” When looking back on the events of the summer of 1980, quite a few people still speak of a miracle today.
11 August 1984, FRG vs. Yugoslavia, Los Angeles:
Five games, five wins – after a perfect preliminary round, Germany’s handball players are confident as they enter the final. Led by Uli Roth, the youngest captain in the national team’s history at the age of 22, the DHB team put up an epic fight against Yugoslavia. At the end of a nerve-racking 60 minutes, the DHB team, including players such as Uwe Schwenker, Jochen Fraatz and Martin Schwalb, lost by a narrow margin of 17:18 (7:8) in Los Angeles.
40 years later, eleven of the heroes of that time met again on Friday at Roth’s invitation and watched the Olympic semi-final of today’s team together. “I wanted to revive the spirit of that time,” says Roth. “The fact that so many people agreed to come made me very happy. We were excited for them. And we were very happy for the boys.”
29 August 2004, Germany vs. Croatia, Athens:
Much points to the first all-German Olympic victory when Stefan Kretzschmar and Co. lead 15:12 shortly after the break. After an epic quarter-final against Spain (32:30 after penalty shootouts), which will go down as one of the greatest games in German international history, and a convincing semi-final against Russia (21:15), the way to Athens seems clear.
But the German European champions were unable to hold on to their lead against the world champions. Despite a self-sacrificing fight, the Croatians retained the upper hand, as they did in the 2003 World Cup final. The players of national coach Heiner Brand were left completely dejected and exhausted. Kretzschmar retired like other national players, decorated with Olympic silver. “I can’t really be happy about this silver, and even with some distance I won’t be as happy,” said the legendary left winger at the time.
11 August 2024, Germany vs Denmark, Lille:
Germany and Denmark have faced each other 108 times since 1938 – the DHB team has only played more international matches against Sweden (115). Germany won 58 times, Denmark 36 times, and 14 matches ended in a draw. The last five duels went to Denmark, with Germany’s last victory dating back to April 4, 2016 in Cologne, when they won 33:26 in a friendly match. The last German victory in a competitive match was at the 2016 European Championships in Wroclaw, and at the end of the tournament Germany won its last title to date.
