The goalkeeper, who had stirred up plenty of controversy before the match with his “anti-handball” comments about the opponent, made saves with his legs at head height, with his arms, and even once with his face, leaving the Austrians repeatedly frustrated.
Coach Gislason celebrated every successful play on the sideline as if he were part of the defensive wall himself. The 66-year-old rotated his squad frequently, making full use of his roster. In front of 5,820 spectators at the Jyske Bank Boxen in Herning, captain Johannes Golla led the German goalscorers with seven goals.
This momentum will serve the German team well as they look ahead to their next challenges. Their remaining group matches are against Serbia on Saturday and Spain on Monday. Only the top two teams advance to the next stage, and points earned against other qualified teams will be carried over into the main round of the tournament.
The atmosphere ahead of this neighbourly clash was already heated after Wolff’s provocative remarks (“Austria plays absolute anti-handball. Nobody really wants to watch that”). But just before the match, Gislason called on his players to stay “relaxed.”
“In an opening match, it’s extremely important that no one tenses up and everyone trusts each other,” the Icelandic coach told ARD. “It’s about enjoying being together with your teammates and making sure you’re having fun. But to do that, we need to stay focused, both in attack and defense.”
In the other match of the evening, co-hosts Norway showed that they are a force not to be underestimated when they defeated Ukraine 39-22.
Boosted by their fans, the new Norwegian generation delivered right from the throw-off. And thanks to Kevin Anderson and Tobias Grondahl on the back court, Norway grabbed the initiative from the start to take an eight-goal advantage at the break.
The second half was even more one-sided, as Norway’s advantage crossed the 10-goal mark two minutes after the restart. As goals kept on coming, it became clear that Sander Sagosen and his teammates were about to take their biggest ever win at the European Championships, inflicting Ukraine their biggest ever defeat in the competition along the way.