Handball World Cup
Missed throw festival during the duel between the German group opponents
January 15, 2025 – 7:43 p.mReading time: 1 min.
Switzerland started the Handball World Cup with a setback. There was only a draw against the Czech Republic. There were numerous failed attempts.
World Cup false start for Andy Schmid and Switzerland: The former Bundesliga icon’s tournament debut as national coach of the Swiss failed. Switzerland couldn’t get past a 17:17 (8:7) draw against the Czech Republic in a festival of missed throws in German preliminary group A and has to worry about progressing.
While the Netherlands (40:23 against Guinea), Portugal (30:21 against the USA) and Egypt (39:25 against Argentina) easily fulfilled their role as favorites in the parallel groups, a close game developed in Herning. Both teams made numerous mistakes in their own finishing and should hardly have a chance against Germany in this form. Schmid’s team missed the chance to win in the last attack.
Switzerland, which had to cope with the loss of its key player Manuel Zehnder (serious knee injury) before the start of the tournament, will be the second opponent of national coach Alfred Gislason’s German team on Friday (from 6 p.m. in the t-online live ticker).
The best three teams from the eight preliminary round groups qualify for the main round. The points against the teams that also qualified will be taken away.
Schmid, a long-time playmaker for the Rhein-Neckar Löwen, said a tearful goodbye to the big handball stage at the European Championships in Germany last year and then announced the end of his career. As a result, he immediately took over the position of national coach. The 41-year-old has a contract until the 2028 European Championship, which will be held in Switzerland, Spain and Portugal.