Handball can be so easy. Pass, throw, goal. The net billows outward. The ball wriggles in the mesh.
Four times in four minutes Juri Knorr sent the ball into the French goal, as if it were the easiest thing in the world. The goals 20 to 22 and 24 were on his account. Germany led 24:19 in the 35th minute against the defending champion, and in the end it defeated France in the last main-round game 38:34 (19:15).
“I actually feel like I’m being played,” Knorr said later, “three games nothing’s going on. All of a sudden every ball goes in.” It were his ten goals from 14 attempts that decisively helped the German national handball team into the semi-final on Friday evening (5:45 p.m.) in Herning against Croatia.
I actually feel like I’m being played.
Juri Knorr
That the DHB squad now has the chance to triumph at the European Championship for the first time since 2016 would not have been believed after the group-stage defeat against Serbia. The historically early exit was knocking on the door. There followed partly wild games against Spain, Portugal, Norway and Denmark, before the Germans on Wednesday evening shed all caution and moved on — it was a gripping duel against the French featuring the great Dika Mem (11 goals) and the fresh playmaker Aymeric Minne.
Criticism of the Coach
Suddenly there were goals after fast counterattacks, shots after quick center plays, which are much less exhausting than from the grind of positional offense. At the center of all actions stood the 25-year-old Knorr. It had already seemed that national coach Alfred Gislason no longer found room for him in his bid for defensive stability. Knorr became the bench driver of this European Championship — 20 minutes of playing time against Portugal, 17 against Norway, only 10 against Denmark. The latter felt like a humiliation, given that Knorr has been playing in Aalborg since the summer of 2025.
The native Flensburg player did not let himself be kept down, provided tactical instructions in timeouts and kept a good mood on the bench. Yet the central role seemed far away, the one he had hoped for not only at this European Championship. He had expected it and, at the start of the tournament in a critical response to Gislason’s personnel management, also demanded: “We will not make it if people play 60 minutes.” Afterwards he harshly judged himself. He was irritated and at a loss why he could not carry the strong league form from Aalborg into the tournament. The revival against France he found “almost cheesy.”
Juri Knorr is reluctant to be the hero. He wrestles with his public role: “I seek the spotlight and curse it.” But he has such extraordinary abilities, such a sense for space and time, that he is by no means just any backcourt player. Since the reputation of a handball superstar has preceded him for years, extraordinary things are expected of him. Yet he is a quiet, introverted, reflective type, who tends to think too much rather than too little, as his roommate and friend David Späth reports.
On Wednesday his father Thomas and his girlfriend Friederike saw him at the height of his creative power. There were no doubts, only timing and momentum. That later missed throws followed was irrelevant. Germany ultimately won convincingly and took a big step in development — finally the pressure to win was not just withstood for a half.
If Friday’s match against Croatia continues, there is no guarantee for the next Knorr show. Somewhat reassuring is that the squad also has other candidates who could slip into the leading role. This versatility was also emphasized by Juri Knorr himself.
