Wolff excels in a close World Cup duel
Handball thriller: Germany wins and advances
Updated on January 17, 2025 – 10:12 p.mReading time: 2 minutes
Germany went into the game as favorites against Switzerland. But the game in Herning was closer than expected.
Germany also won its second game at the Handball World Cup. In a close duel against Switzerland, the DHB selection excelled in the final minutes and won the game 31:29. The best German player in Herning (Denmark) was goalkeeper Andreas Wolff, who was able to parry more than 40 percent of all Swiss throws and, especially in the first half, equalized the weak German offensive.
In the second half, both offenses became more dangerous and the game remained close. Eight minutes before the end, the DHB selection was still behind 25:26 before they managed to turn things around with a show of strength in front of more than 7,000 spectators. But Germany didn’t play really convincingly. Captain Johannes Golla spoke on ZDF of “careless mistakes” and national coach Alfred Gislason wasn’t really happy either. “We hardly played well, actually only the last quarter of an hour was good,” said the Icelander. But in the end, the relief of victory prevailed.
Most of the goals were scored by backcourt specialist Julian Köster, who turned up the heat particularly in the second half and scored a total of seven goals. Renārs Uščins (six goals) and Juri Knorr (five goals) were also successful on several occasions. The latter was initially rested after his knee injury, but then came off the bench and was able to impress as a playmaker in several actions.
Germany now leads Group A with 4:0 points, followed by the Czech Republic (2:2) as well as Poland and Switzerland with 1:3 points each. The first three teams reach the main round, which the German team will complete in Herning from Tuesday. Olympic champions and world champions Denmark and outsiders Italy have already been determined as opponents.
Next Sunday the German selection will meet the Czech Republic (from 6 p.m. in the live ticker on t-online). At the end of the preliminary round it is now about the group victory and how many points the German team reaches the main round. The points against the teams that also qualified will be taken into the second phase of the tournament.