The German handball women also won their sixth game at the home World Cup against Spain and are now heading into the quarter-finals with confidence.
In front of 10,522 spectators in the sold-out Dortmund Westfalenhalle, national coach Markus Gaugisch’s team celebrated a 29:25 victory (13:10). Backcourt player Emily Vogel (6 goals) and captain Antje Döll (5) were the best German throwers. After six clear victories in the six tournament games, the German team’s self-confidence is huge. The dream of the first medal since the 2007 World Cup bronze is alive.
“Of course that gives another good feeling or that we stay on the path we started the tournament on”said Emily Vogel on the sports show microphone: “We’ve now seen a lot of different opponents, different defensive formations. We found solutions everywhere and were very consistent. Everyone has a good feeling, it’s a lot of fun and now we’re happy that we’re going into the quarter-finals.”
And Antje Döll explained: “We want to win every game here. The game was very important for Spain, so it wasn’t particularly clear, but we showed very good things again, defense was top again, with a top goalkeeper at the back. It’s clear that a few mistakes will creep in. It’s maybe not so bad to have had a game like that so that we’re prepared for the quarter-finals.”
Tuesday against Norway or Brazil
It was already clear before the game that the DHB women would be the first in main round group II to move into the next round. In the quarter-finals on Tuesday (5:15 p.m./ZDF) we will face Olympic champions Norway and ninth-placed Brazil in the World Cup. In the parallel group, both will play for group victory on Sunday, with the second-placed team meeting Germany. Spain, on the other hand, was eliminated after defeat against Germany. Only with a win would they have accompanied the hosts into the quarter-finals.
Sportily unimportant, mentally important
The final round of the main round against Spain was insignificant in terms of sport, but it was important mentally. “We want to keep the flow going and keep having fun.”Alina Grijseels said before the game. National coach Markus Gaugisch didn’t want to slow down either. “We would do well to just carry on”said Gaugisch: “Victory is the best way to build routines.” The coach did not experiment with personnel and sent his previous starting seven to the table.
Never behind
And the German team started accordingly. They never fell behind in the first half, only shortly before the break there was a phase in which they conceded four goals in a row. We went into the break with a three-goal lead (13:10). The team once again had their goalkeeper Katharina Filter to thank for their lead, who made some outstanding saves.
DHB team pulls away after the break
After the break, the team was right back up to speed and pulled away to 17:10 with four quick goals. It was only after a time-out that the Spaniards slowly got back into the game. But the Germans remained focused. In the middle of the second half the lead was still very comfortable at 21:16.
15 minutes before the end the Spaniards had to come up with something. And they tried a lot. But the Germans kept the pace high and didn’t let up. Once again there was a phase with three German goals in a row (24:16). Only towards the end did the Spaniards turn things up again, but they couldn’t get close.