At the Olympic Games there was another bitter defeat against Egypt – now the German handball players have successfully taken revenge in the placement game of the World Cup. Germany won 35:34 (30:30, 17:14) after overtime.
The quarterfinals in Tokyo was lost 26:31. On Sunday (January 29, 2023) the game for fifth place is on the agenda, which we definitely want to achieve. Also because then there may be an easier starting position in the qualifying tournaments for the 2024 Olympic Games.
Germany off to a good start
Germany dominated the game from the start. Coach Gislason had only made minor changes to his starting seven. There for the first time: Lukas Zerbe from TBV Lemgo-Lippe, who came later and replaced Patrick Groetzki on the right wing position. The “perennial”, which previously played through almost all World Cup games, was given a break, as announced. Zerbe scored his first World Cup goal in the 11th minute to make it 8:4.
In front of the rather empty stands in Stockholm, the Germans showed that they had coped well with the quarter-final defeat by France. Circle runner Johannes Golla shaped the initial phase and ensured a quick 4:1 lead with his three goals at the beginning.
Andreas Wolff with eleven saves
Germany kept up the pace and again had very strong support in goalkeeper Andreas Wolff. With eleven saves and 53 percent saved balls in the first half, the German number one continued the very good performances before. Andreas Wolff is one of the big winners at this World Cup from a German perspective.
Because Kai Häfner (four goals) also scored well in the first half, the Germans extended their lead to 16:9 and 17:11. Only in the final minutes before the break did they slow down and the Egyptians came within three goals.
Ten minutes without own goal
Because Gislason’s seven came out of the dressing room with a lot of momentum, the seven-goal lead was restored after ten minutes in the second round – 26:19 (40th).
When everything looked like a clear victory, there was negligence in attack again – the Egyptians worked their way up from 21:28 to 26:28. The game threatened to tip over, Germany could not stop the accumulation of mistakes and went ten (!) minutes without their own goal. Only two goals were scored in the last eleven minutes.
High leadership playful
So the final phase was exciting again. At 30:30 the Egyptians had equalized for the first time (57th) and it stayed that way because both teams missed good chances in the last few minutes.
Köster characterizes the overtime
In extra time, both teams noticed the high wear and tear of the past two weeks with eight games in 15 days. But the Germans bit their teeth, especially Gummersbach’s Julian Köster, who was not only good in defense but also took responsibility in attack