Germany at the Handball World Cup: 37 goals for a good atmosphere

A starting seven without Juri Knorr, but with Luca Witzke, Rune Dahmke and Simon Ernst: If there had been a lot going on in the last German preliminary round game at the Handball World Cup, national coach Alfred Gislason would have set up differently. But getting into the main round was perfect anyway, where it’s up against Argentina, Norway and the Netherlands from Thursday for the longed-for place in the quarter-finals.

And Algeria, the third and last opponent in the preliminary round, was beaten by the German team with the staff from the second row. The very loose 37:21 (16:9) was the third win in the third World Cup game, an optimal result, which animated national coach Gislason to a jubilant interim conclusion. “We’re going into the main round with a lot of self-confidence,” explained the Icelander: “A lot can still happen.”

Middleman Witzke was also impressed. “We’ve gotten a really good basis,” said the Leipziger on ZDF: “Of course the goal is the quarter-finals.” But before that the main round is coming up, the first opponent will be Argentina on Thursday.

Djibril M’Bengue also gets a lot of playing time, he scores his first World Cup goals

Algeria had previously been classified as the weakest German opponent in the preliminary round – and only surprised with fast goals in the first three minutes. But the team led by Witzke came back, the 1:3 deficit was quickly converted into a 6:3 lead. And that despite the fact that Juri Knorr, who came on for a seven-meter throw, failed for the first time in this tournament at the penalty throw at the opposing goalkeeper.

The game was bagged at half-time with a seven-goal lead, Gislason bringing on other previously under-used players such as Paul Drux and Djibril M’Bengue, who promptly scored his first World Cup goals. The result was so high because the Algerians more or less gave up in the second half – pivot Jannik Kohlbacher was the best German shooter with ten goals. Gislason was not only able to celebrate his third win, he even rested some regular players – and at the same time kept some national players who had been neglected up to now in good spirits.