The German national handball team also won their second preliminary round match at the World Cup. With the narrow 34:33 win against Serbia, the DHB selection knew how to increase against one of the stronger opponents – and can now already plan for the main round. In addition, after Algeria’s defeat against Qatar, she took four points with her, which significantly increased her chances of reaching the targeted quarter-finals. “This victory was very important for us,” explained national coach Alfred Gislason, “not just in terms of points for the main round. But also for self-confidence.”
On Sunday, Andreas Wolff was the first German national player to step onto the blue floor of the Spodek Arena in Katowice to warm up. This settled the question of whether the goalkeeper, who was so important to the team, would be able to play in the second game of Group E; The 31-year-old left a bit of cause for concern after beating Qatar 31:27 in the first game. First he secured victory with his saves – including his specialty, the standing splits, in which he parried opponent’s throws with his foot well above his head – but then hobbled off the field in the final minutes. But the medical department had fixed his overstressed calf.
In the person of Wolff, one of the bigger pieces of the jigsaw puzzle was still there in the German team, which he also proved in the first half. His goalkeeper colleague Joel Birlehm was the man of the evening. The goalkeeper of the Rhein-Neckar Löwen, whom national coach Alfred Gislason brought into play for Wolff somewhat surprisingly five minutes before the end of the first half, became the match winner in the last ten minutes when he barely scored against the Serbs, who were pushing hard for an equaliser Goal allowed. “I was a bit surprised, but I’m fit and trained for it,” said the 25-year-old after the success.
Gislason was also full of praise. Although he was still a bit nervous at the beginning of his playing time in the first half, as the game went on and his saves “he got better and played like he plays for the Rhein-Neckar Löwen.”
A special quality of the German team is that they don’t need any start-up phase. In this regard, she delivered her previous masterpiece against Serbia, and the DHB selection played highly concentrated from the first second. Philipp Weber, who started next to playmaker Juri Knorr, right winger Patrick Groetzki and Kai Häfner, reliable goalscorer and regular starter in the right backcourt, were simply too fast for the visibly impressed Serbs with their goals.
That’s exactly what Gislason called for: a high level of concentration and speed, while minimizing mistakes – and his players complied in an impressive manner. However, that was also necessary against this opponent, the Serbs were not classified as the toughest opponent in the group for nothing. They also proved that, an intensive, technically high-class and fast-paced game developed with moves worth seeing, powerful one-on-one actions and fast counterattacks on both sides. At times the pace was so high that the defenses found it difficult to keep up. That could be read at half-time, Germany led 19:17.
Birlehm secured victory with his reflexes, Mertens with his goals
Even after the break, the game hardly lost any of its intensity, but the DHB selection was the better team, always remained in the lead and at times scored up to four goals. Lukas Mertens in particular knew how to impress, either he completed the finely created chances safely or he converted his counterattack. The left winger of the German Meisers SC Magdeburg was the best shooter in the DHB selection with seven goals, and he didn’t miss a single shot.
In the final phase it got tight again, the second feature of this German team. The young German selection apparently began to think about the tangible success, technical errors crept in, the throws did not find the target, playmaker Juri Knorr’s allusions were a bit too ambitious. A class team like the Serbs, who beat European champions Sweden in preparation, know how to use something like that.
But there was still Joel Birlehm, the goalkeeper from Mannheim improved from throw to throw, regardless of whether it was from the outside, from the backcourt or free from the circle: Birlehm was there and recorded the success.
