After the women's national team finished seventh at the European Championships, those responsible for the German Handball Federation drew mixed conclusions and announced higher goals for the future.

"If you want to put it positively, we have consolidated our position in the top eight. If you want to be negative, you can say there has been no step forward in terms of placement," said DHB President Andreas Michelmann and emphasized : "Our aim is to have a team in the future that is ready for the semi-finals."

Early departure

The conclusion of DHB sports director Axel Kromer was similar. "The placement is not outside the range that one could expect. But of course we have higher goals and want to reach other places that are higher up in the medium term," said Kromer.

After three wins and three defeats in the course of the tournament, the DHB selection missed both the semi-finals and the game for fifth place in Ljubljana and returned home on Thursday. "Unfortunately we didn't get the last punch. Otherwise we would be on our way to Ljubljana. That was our dream," said national coach Markus Gaugisch.

At the same time, the 48-year-old, who took over from Henk Groener in April of this year, emphasized: "We worked consistently and with concentration and established a lot of good things. What we've done excellently is the development as a team. But there are also things that we are working on and need to stabilize."