After three victories in the preliminary round of the Handball World Championship, the ultimate cracker awaits Germany on Tuesday (8.30 p.m., live on Erste, in the live stream and in the live ticker at sportschau.de). But what is the right approach before the duel against serial offenders Denmark (3 World Cup victories in a row) with their wild fans behind them? The players largely agree.
Nobody actually sees the fact that they are facing the “Hell of Herning” as a disadvantage. The “boxes” right next to the FC Midtjylland football stadium will hold around 15,000 spectators, and of those 15,000 many will be dressed in red. German fans are of course also there, and at the Czech Republic game (29:22) there were even some tickets in the small standing area for the match on Tuesday evening.
No extra quota for German fans
Otherwise, only the fans of the DHB team are in the hall who have bought the entire tournament pass or who have calculated in advance that this duel will take place that evening. It wasn’t all that complicated – but there was no longer a special contingent of tickets for Germany once the pairing had finally been decided.
Stephanie Müller-Spirra / Dominik Klein / Johannes Bitter, Handball on the 1 – the sports show podcast for the Handball World Cup, January 20th, 2025 1:59 a.m
Rune Dahmke says: “Sure, it will be the first game for us at this World Cup in which our fans are not in the majority. But I’m just looking forward to this sea of red, we have absolutely nothing to lose – and that’s what we can do now “It’s pretty good. Plus, we’re used to full stadiums in every Bundesliga game, so we can handle that.”
Norway and France collapsed under the pressure
How the Danes themselves will cope with this remains to be seen. There have been examples in the recent past of how the pressure from the home crowd can become a burden: Norway, for example, has not been able to cope with it at all at this World Cup. The co-host has already ruined two home games in Oslo in the preliminary round and therefore goes into the main round with zero points with almost no chance.
And the Germans recently beat the French at the Olympic Games in France: The “Hell of Lille” became hell for the hosts when they gambled away a two-goal lead against the DHB game with 16 seconds left and then had to watch it , how Alfred Gislason’s team made it to the final and was only stopped there by Denmark.
Späth also relies on the “Lille vibes”
Motivation monster David Späth, who initiated the turnaround against the Czech Republic on Sunday with his 14 saves and subsequent poser celebrations, likes to remember this before the duel against Denmark: “I’m really looking forward to it. It’ll be a really cool game in front of a full house, it’ll give us those Lille vibes again. I like it when the whole hall is against you.“
Fear of Denmark looks different: David Späth celebrates a parade
Left winger Lukas Mertens also sees the backdrop as a burden for the Danes: “Of course they’re under a lot of pressure at home. For us it will be an absolute highlight, these are the nights for which we play handball, for which we torture ourselves all year round.“It’s important to find the right mix between fun and concentration.
The Germans don’t have to hide, says Mertens. “We have the best goalkeeper duo at the World Cup so far, we have one of the top scorers in Renārs Uščins. And we can absolutely improve on the first three games.”
Mertens and Fischer feel the anthem
Mertens can hardly wait for the ceremony before the game: “I still remember how I got goosebumps when we sang the national anthem at the home European Championships in Düsseldorf in front of over 50,000 fans. It’ll be that feeling again on Tuesday, it’s crazy.”
Cyclist Justus Fischer promises: “I’m really up for it, and I’m really feeling it, to really give it a go during the anthem. And that’s how we’ll go into the game.”