Wno matter what you looked at, there were happy faces. Frequent players who were allowed to rest, tournament newcomers who threw goals and overall a performance as a team that was impressive: Quite a lot came together in this preliminary round, which the national handball team has just finished in Katowice. The Germans also delivered in the 37:21 (16:9) against Algeria on Tuesday evening.
“We did a great job for 60 minutes,” praised captain Johannes Golla. After the third win in the third game of the World Cup, Kiel’s left winger Rune Dahmke was more than satisfied: “We’re fully into the tournament. We are prepared for the tasks that are to come.” Argentina will be the first main round opponent on Thursday, the time of the throw-off has not yet been determined. Other opponents on the hoped-for route to the quarter-finals are the Netherlands and Norway on Saturday and Monday. Dahmke said with confidence: “We have shown the quality we have in the squad.”
This time, national coach Alfred Gislason also used the entire breadth. Everyone was allowed to participate who had only been outsiders on the match days. There was no breakdown in quality – which was also due to Algeria. “The minutes on the plate help me and the others who haven’t played that much so far,” said Simon Ernst, who was the chief of defence. Handball coach Sebastian Hinze has also made his way to Katowice for a few days.
After a strong first half of the season, the Rhein-Neckar Löwen coach now wants to see his players in the national team’s jersey and maybe track down a few tactical trends from the World Cup. But what he gets to see from the Germans seemed so familiar to him that Hinze even had to put up with the question in the lobby of his hotel whether national coach Gislason had already paid him license fees.
Practiced Attacks
Hinze laughed; it wasn’t really meant to be taken seriously. But it’s striking how closely Gislason follows the familiar routines of the lions. Since playmaker Juri Knorr, circle player Jannik Kohlbacher and right winger Patrick Groetzki are among the regular players in the German team, there is a lot of “lion” in it where “Germany” is written on it. Knorr’s passes to the district in particular provide significant advantages. And the fourth lion in the league, goalkeeper Joel Birlehm, was already the most conspicuous figure on Sunday evening against Serbia. Hinze can therefore be satisfied with what he has seen from his professionals in the Silesian metropolis so far.
So far, it has been noticeable how much the Germans are trying to pull off moves. It was different in previous tournaments. Quite often it is possible to find a free player at the end of a relay pass, whether on the outside or especially on the circle. The attacks are rehearsed and mostly completed. On the offensive, the German team took a step forward. Gislason likes this.
The fact that the new game culture is not only due to the lion professionals was revealed against the weak Algerians. Because Gislason sent the first seven largely to the bench. Luca Witzke controlled the attacks and also found Kohlbacher in the circle. Dahmke and later in the first half also Djibril M’Bengue played in the right backcourt and threw their first tournament goals. In the case of M’Bengue, it was even the first minutes of the entire World Cup mission; he hadn’t even played against Iceland in the tests.
Already at 6:3 in the 10th minute there were signs of a relaxed evening in the “Spodek”. However, Andreas Wolff initially had to fend off a few balls. M’Bengues 14:7 in the 28th minute acknowledged the bank with great joy. When Gislason saw how well things were going, Philipp Weber was able to put on the training jacket; Knorr only came into play for seven meters. Kai Häfner and Lukas Mertens watched from outside as the task, which the Germans took seriously, turned into a walk. It was certainly good for self-confidence when Paul Drux scored to make it 23:12 (42nd) or M’Bengue revealed qualities as a shooter from the backcourt. The bank crew repeatedly acknowledged successful actions with applause.
The highlight of the evening was a surprise pass from Dahmke to the circle, which Kohlbacher converted to 28:16. Absolutely Kohlbacher. He was the target player with the big repertoire; High, flat, hard or with feeling: almost everything worked from the circle, Kohlbacher scored his tenth goal to make the final score – Sebastian Hinze should have liked that too.
