In the last World Cup test, the German national handball team didn’t have much going for it against Brazil – and yet it was still enough to win in the end. Alfred Gislason’s selection won in Hamburg on Saturday (January 11th, 2025) with 28:26 (13:17).
The most successful thrower was Juri Knorr with five hits. Goalkeeper David Späth kept the German team in the game with numerous saves in the second half, so that victory was still possible in the final phase. Two days earlier, Germany had already won 32:25 (13:13) against the South Americans in Flensburg.
“It’s a bit of a warning for us that we didn’t play the way we hoped in both games“, said national coach Gislason in the sports show. “Above all, we reject too many clear opportunities.“The national coach only liked the last quarter of an hour:”Under pressure, the team deservedly turned it around.“
Attack is rejected, defense is flawed
Four days before the start of the World Cup, Gislason didn’t want to experiment too much and started with his regular formation around playmaker Juri Knorr, Renars Uscins and goalkeeper Andreas Wolff. After the national goalkeeper took a break on Thursday shortly after the birth of his first child, he now played from the start – and was not at all satisfied with the performance of his front men.
Despite all the experience on the field, the DHB team acted too imprecisely on offense in front of 12,379 spectators and missed one great chance after another. Bad passes and missed throws, including a missed seven-meter throw, characterized the initial phase. In the first round alone, the DHB team missed twelve free throws.
Thomas Koos, Sportschau, January 11, 2025 8:53 p.m
Youngsters don’t bring any momentum either
The German defense also didn’t find its rhythm and allowed the Brazilians to walk through the defense unchallenged. Even the substitution of DHB young stars Nils Lichtlein, Marko Grgic and Justus Fischer had no effect. The guests managed to keep the hall largely quiet even after the break. The comfortable three-goal lead remained.
Also because the DHB team once again missed a bunch of opportunities. Almost free-standing, Johannes Golla, Julian Köster and Luca Witzke, who was actually in a good mood, were denied by Brazil’s keeper Rangel da Rosa and drove Gislason to despair on the sidelines. The 65-year-old brought fresh energy again with a score of 19:22. It was substitute left winger Rune Dahmke who equalized to make it 23:23 around ten minutes before the end of the game and sent the sold-out arena into ecstasy.
Späth and final spurt save victory
David Späth in goal kept his team in the game with impressive saves. Despite a catastrophic performance in attack, the DHB team finally turned the game around in the final phase with a 3-0 run thanks to goals from Knorr (2) and Uscins. “The first World Cup game against Poland will be extremely important. We shouldn’t show such ups and downs in our performance“, said Gislason in the sports show.
For the German team, the World Cup begins on Wednesday (January 15, 2025) in Herning, Denmark, with the game against Poland (8:30 p.m., live on Erste and as a live stream on sportschau.de).