Start of the European Championship against Germany in front of 53,000 fans: everything is at stake for the national team in the record match

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The European Handball Championship in Germany starts with a world record: France will meet North Macedonia on Wednesday in front of more than 53,000 fans and then Germany will face the Swiss national team in the actual opening match. The tournament bosses have long been happy with a sold-out stadium, making the previous record from 2014 history. At the time, Rhein-Neckar Löwen and Andy Schmid’s HSV Hamburg faced each other in Frankfurt in front of more than 44,000 handball fans.

Unlike then, the games are now played under a closed roof. To reduce the distance to the smaller handball field, additional stands will be placed on the football field. “It was different for us as players in the football stadium. The reaction from the crowd came with a delay on the field because everything was further away,” Schmid remembers.

He would prefer to play against Germany in a normal hall. The affair with the opening match and Germany as an opponent is big enough anyway. “But it is of course nice that something like this is done for handball. And if anyone can organize such an event, it would be Germany.”

Duel for second place

However, for the national team, it is not the spectator spectacle that is in the foreground, but rather the sporting explosiveness. Because the first European Championship match is also about surviving at the European Championship. Only the best two teams from the preliminary round qualify for the main round. It is difficult to pass France – together with Denmark and Sweden, one of the favorites for European Championship gold – in Group A.

So it is a battle for second place between Germany and Switzerland – with the national team as an outsider. The Germans are no longer among the absolute best in the world. The last medals were Olympic bronze and European Championship gold in 2016. However, the Germans are still at the top in key positions such as in goal or in the center of coverage. A lot would have to come together for a Swiss victory.

The Germans will certainly have an advantage in the stands in the stadium. Between 2,000 and 3,000 Nati fans are expected in Düsseldorf. At 3:45 p.m., the Swiss appendage, dressed in red, will meet at Reeser Platz in the city center. From there, the 30-minute fan march begins to the stadium, where everything will be on the line for the national team in front of a record crowd at 8:45 PM (SRF live).

Source : Blick