In addition to the relief over the opening victory at the World Cup, the German handball players were worried about their playmaker: Juri Knorr injured his knee and is in danger of being out.
As his teammates exuberantly celebrated the successful start of the World Cup against Poland, playmaker Juri Knorr crept across the field in ailing state and repeatedly grabbed his leg. The alleged injury to the German playmaker dampened the mood a little bit about the 35:28 (15:14) victory of the German handball players. Arm in arm with his teammates, a smile finally flashed across the face of the crowd favorite, who had to leave with a good 20 minutes to go.
Sprained knee – or more?
Knorr, one of the strongest German players until the 39th minute with five goals and five assists, slipped on the apparently wet ground and appeared to buckle his left knee. The 24-year-old left the field with his face contorted in pain and never returned. He stuck his head into his jersey on the sidelines and was treated by the physiotherapist.
National coach Alfred Gislason was unable to give the all-clear on the sports show microphone. “I just asked him, he said sprain. But we’ll see, of course I hope it’s nothing serious.”
Knorr – “Feels okay”
Sports show expert Dominik Klein found: “The feeling of your own body, the face distorted in pain, touching your head, it’s a disturbing feeling.”
Knorr himself quickly disappeared into the cabin to be examined. With a view to the Switzerland game, he gave the Sportschau at least a slight all-clear: “That should work, it feels okay so far.”
If the German director were to miss the second group game on Friday, Luca Witzke would step in as a middle man. With Nils Lichtlein, another playmaker would be available.