Even defending champion France couldn’t stop Germany’s triumph at the Handball World Cup. The DHB women outgrew themselves.
Germany defeated the favored French women in the semi-finals on Friday after an outstanding performance with 29:23 (15:12) and is reaching for its second World Cup gold after 1993. The opponent in the final is on Sunday (5.30 p.m., live on Erste) in Rotterdam and is co-hosted by the Netherlands or Norway (Saturday, 8.45 p.m.).
Led by top scorer Antje Döll (9 goals) and the once again strong goalkeeper Katharina Filter, the German team showed hardly any weaknesses and had France under control throughout the entire season. Silver is already certain, making it the second best World Cup result in Germany’s handball history.
Big praise from Gaugisch
“Phenomenal, I’m full of emotions and so happy,” said the “player of the game” Döll on the sports show microphone. “It was a great, great game from minute one to minute 60.”
National coach Markus Gaugisch was full of praise for his team. “You can see how cool they are, how confident they are in their strength. And strength is called defense. And what really worked well for the first time today was the calmness at the front.”
Döll gets hot early on
It was clear that the German Handball Federation (DHB) team is in strong form after the previous seven impressive World Cup victories in front of their home crowd. But is it good enough to pose a threat to the world leaders? Already the first minutes in Rotterdam with loud German supporters indicated: Yes, it could work.
Led by Viola Leuchter with three goals and especially Antje Döll with five goals, including two confident seven-meter penalties, Germany won the opening phase. The attack was all the more impressive because France is feared for its strong defensive line, which was also evident in the quarter-final win against Denmark.
Because the German Handball Federation (DHB) team could once again rely on goalkeeper Katharina Filter, the score was 10:6 after 16 minutes. France coach Sebastian Gardillou was forced to take a time out early on.
Short phase of weakness
The coach’s speech had an effect, the French returned to the field more alert and forced a German period of weakness. Technical errors and poorly prepared throws were increasing at the front. On the other hand, France had good shots and reduced the score to 11:10 within four minutes.
Now it was national coach Gaugisch’s turn to stop the opponents’ run with a time out. The plan worked, Germany held the lead and even increased it to 15:12 by the break. At halftime, Filter had a strong catch rate of 37 percent, while France’s highly regarded goalkeeper, Hatadou Sako, only parried 23 percent of the shots.
Red after Face hit against Nieke Kühne
After the break, a competitive game developed between equals. The DHB team managed to keep France at a distance, including a double strike from Annika Lott to make it 19:15.
The defending champions had to fight hard and Onacia Ondono overdid it. She hit Nieke Kühne clearly in the face when she threw and was rightly shown red (45th).
France continued to fight back, but Germany continued to take the lead and even triumphed clearly in the end.