World Cup hosts Denmark suffered a surprising defeat and gave the German handball players two match points to reach the quarter-finals.
The co-favorite surprisingly lost 26:27 (12:12) against Japan at the start of the main round on Thursday in Herning.
The German team of coach Markus Gaugisch, which had previously won 24:22 against Romania, now has two match points: already a win in the remaining games of the main round group III on Saturday (6 p.m.) against Serbia (0:6 points) or on Monday (8.30 p.m./both Sportdeutschland.TV) against the Danes (4:2) is certainly enough to reach the targeted knockout round.
The Poles (4:2), who defeated Serbia 22:21 at the start of the second phase of the tournament and will meet Denmark on Saturday (8:30 p.m.), can also have hopes in the German group.