After the difficult 25:23 (11:12) victory at the start of the European Championship against Poland, Germany's handball women jubilantly threw up their arms. National coach Markus Gaugisch was also clearly relieved at the successful start to the final round.

"It was a fight victory with comeback qualities. We pulled ourselves out of the situation by our own bootstraps," Gaugisch summed up after a dramatic 60 minutes. "The first game was difficult but that doesn't matter in the end. We have the points."

The best German throwers were the two captains Alina Grijseels with eight goals and Emily Bölk (6) in front of 400 spectators in Podgorica. In the first game of Group D, Montenegro had previously caught their attention with an unexpectedly clear 30:23 victory over Spain, fourth in the World Cup. The co-host is the next preliminary round opponent of the DHB selection next Monday.

Everything is open until the end

In the opening game against the Poles, the German team was very nervous. With many slight ball losses, the opponent was repeatedly invited to quick counterattacks. In addition, too many chances, including two seven meters, were missed. The result: five minutes before the break, the DHB selection was four goals behind at 7:11. Only in the final phase of the first half did the Gaugisch protégés act a little more calmly and came back within a goal.

After the change, the German team improved and steered the game with an intermediate sprint to 16:13 (38 th ) for a short time. The resistance of the Poles was by no means broken. In the middle of the second half everything was open again at 17:17 because the German team made too many mistakes again.

Eleven minutes before the end, at 19:21, there was even a threat of bankruptcy at the start. But the DHB team kept their nerve and turned the tide in his favor. Especially Bölk repeatedly took over responsibility from the backcourt in the final phase. In addition, goalkeeper Isabell Roch parried a penalty at the score of 24:23. The rest was relieved cheering.