“A big mistake”
Wintor irregular? Interest for German World Cup
30.01.2025 – 8:09 p.m.Reading time: 2 min.
The narrow defeat against Portugal meant the end of Germany’s handball player at the World Cup. But the winning goal of the Iberer shouldn’t have counted.
After a big fight, Germany’s national handball team had to give up Portugal on Wednesday evening. In the quarter-finals of the World Cup, the DHB team lost 30:31 against the southern Europeans after extra time. The final hit by the Portuguese fell through Martim Costa seconds before the end. But the gate now leads to big discussions.
In the room it says whether Costa’s goal may have been irregular. Because before he brought the ball to the German case, the 22-year-old took too many steps. When handball, players are actually allowed to take three steps, then they must have played the ball – or once cheated on the floor.
That was not the case with Costa. The back room player even took five steps with the ball in his hand, only then did the drop followed. A fact that the Norwegian referee team Lars Jörum and Havard Kleven overlooked.
On the German side, there was no protests after the game whether the Portuguese winning goal was established. However, a Danish expert recognized a clear misconduct by the referees.
Ex-handball professional Claus Möller Jakobsen said at TV 2 Sport: “It is undeniable that Costa takes too many steps. Something like that can happen, but it is super annoying for the Norwegian referees that they do not go out and the result on video check.”
In his view, the whole thing is “a big mistake” of the two referees. “This goal should not have been recognized,” said Möller Jakobsen. This determination of the 48-year-old will probably not change anything at the German World Cup.