World Handball Championship: Germany in fifth place

With a very robust defensive efficiency, Germany’s handball gamers secured fifth place in the World Cup in opposition to Norway on Sunday (29/01/2023). The DHB group received with the rating 28:24 (16:13) and thus avenged the loss to the Norwegians in the primary spherical.

National coach Alfred Gislason dropped Philipp Weber and defensive specialist Simon Ernst, changing him with Djibril M’bengue, whereas additionally handing second-choice Tim Zechel his first World Cup sport. From the beginning, Gislason relied on Lucas Mertens, Julian Koster, Juri Knorr, Christoph Steinert, Lucas Zerbe, Johannes Golla and Andreas Wolff to attain.

Germany’s seven-meter killer Andreas Wolff

After Knorr’s go, Golla made it 1-0 in the primary assault. It was a balanced opening interval the place the DHB group needed to cope with the tempo of the Norwegians, who hit the accelerator immediately even after conceding a objective in the primary place. Against the Scandinavian assault, issues have been higher for the German protection, and the wide-awake Wolff in objective contributed to this. 1 / 4 of an hour later, he returned a seven-meter throw, and Germany took an 8-5 lead.

After that, each coaches began to alter a bit. This led to quite a lot of errors in the German assault early on, however Wolff stored two extra sevens and a DHB choice properly in the sport. Luka Witzke, who changed Knorr in this era, had a strong efficiency with a convincing objective up entrance. 16:13 at halftime was properly deserved.

Great defensive work by the Germans after the break

Germany got here out of the break with quite a lot of momentum and have been selfless, particularly in defence, so the Norwegians have been in very tight areas, and Wolff made a number of “straightforward” saves. At 7:14 p.m., DHB pulled away till 9:15 p.m., when Norway coach Jonas Wille was compelled to take a break after 40 minutes.

The German group seemed set to lose the ultimate once more, as they did in their final three matches in opposition to Norway, France and Egypt. Obvious likelihood is missed, Patrik Grotzky, for instance, is totally free twice and 23:20 Norway are all of the sudden in shut contact once more.

Strong Kai Hafner makes all of it clear in opposition to Norway

As a consequence, Gislason took a timeout, however his group appeared to expire and Wolff was in a position to thank: Magnus Rohde had an opportunity to cut back the deficit once more at 26:23 4 minutes earlier than the ultimate whistle, however discovered his grasp in the German goalkeeper. With two minutes left in the sport, DHB was nonetheless main 26-24 when it fizzled once more.

Kai Hafner, who was actually robust in the second half, lastly despatched the ball into the objective with the danger of losing time – 27:24. Most attention-grabbing: Hafner was injured minutes earlier, however Gislason mentioned he wished to play once more in the ultimate interval. The veteran could have even damaged his backbone, the nationwide coach defined on the ZDF web site. Either approach, Hafner’s objective was the deciding issue.

Source: sportschau.de