It was a feat of strength. In the second preliminary round game at the Handball World Cup in Denmark, the German national team struggled for a long time against Switzerland. It was mainly thanks to Andreas Wolff in the German goal that the main round was booked with the 31:29 (15:14) win.
The 33-year-old parried 20 of the 48 shots on goal and achieved an outstanding rate of 42 percent. That was necessary because without a world-class Wolff, Germany might lose a game in which they were clear favorites. “We were hoping for a better game,” said Wolff in the Sportschau interview. “You could say a little cynically: A good horse only jumps as high as it has to. But of course that’s not our claim.”
National coach Alfred Gislason said: “We didn’t play well for the most part, only in the last quarter of an hour.” In this crunch time, it was Julian Köster who put Germany on the road to victory with six goals after the 42nd minute. “Köster’s dangerousness from the backcourt was particularly important today,” said Gislason.
Praise for Switzerland – Schmid proud
There was praise for ex-Bundesliga star Andy Schmid’s team. “Switzerland played one of their best international games today,” said DHB left winger Lukas Mertens. “Almost everything worked for them, but almost nothing worked for us.”
“I told my boys that they should be proud, but it should also hurt,” said Schmid to the sports show. “That was a gigantic step in the right direction for us.”
Playmaker Juri Knorr was in the squad after his knee injury in the Poland game. National coach Alfred Gislason initially left the 24-year-old on the bench, while Luca Witzke started in the central backcourt position.
Early time-out: DHB team with a tired start
Julian Köster provided the first highlight. The Gummersbacher scored via Kempa to make it 2:3 in the 5th minute. The 24-year-old didn’t want to do much else, so Marko Grgić came into the game early. This change didn’t work either, so Gislason was forced to take an early break.
“We make one mistake after another in attack!”, the national coach criticized his team and brought the injured Knorr off the bench after just ten minutes. However, the important impulse came from another place. Andi Wolff in the German goal saved the sometimes desolate attack several times with his saves against Leopold and Steenaerts.
Once again it was Uščins who gave Germany the lead for the first time in the 22nd minute (9:8). But Andi Wolff increasingly emerged as the star of the first half. The man from THW Kiel now had a 50% ball save rate and the German fans in Herning honored the performance with collective chants of “Andi, Andi”.
Desiree Krause, sports show, January 17, 2025 11:23 p.m
Spectacular Wolff the German Life insurance
At the end of the first half, Knorr’s injured knee was no longer noticeable. Again and again, his precise shot throws ensured that the team went into the break with a 15:14 lead. This didn’t give the Germans any security, symbolically Marko Grgić’s weak pass into the hands of Noam Leopold, who was able to throw into the empty goal – Wolff had gone off the field for the power play (40th).
“We have to do our job now,” Gislason tried to encourage his team during another timeout. One person took it literally – namely Andi Wolff. The German support was immediately there against Zehnder from the seven-meter line and prevented the Swiss from taking another two-goal lead. The field players finally took their goalkeeper’s energy as an example. A quick 4-0 run put the DHB team ahead by two goals for the first time (24:22).
Köster with three important goals in a row
In this phase it was Julian Köster who relieved Uščins in attack and put Germany in front with three important goals in a row and 27:26 (54th). Köster, who had previously played almost exclusively on defense, was the best German scorer with seven goals, only missed two shots and scored six goals in the second half.
Within a minute, two technical errors by the Swiss decided the game, which Mertens and Kastening immediately punished with a fast counterattack – 30:27 (56th). “Hopefully that was a relief for many in Germany,” said Mertens about his counterattack on the empty goal to make it 29:27. “Because that was a difficult birth.”
Wolff dispelled all doubts with his 20th save against right winger Gian Attenhofer from ThSV Eisenach – the Kiel goalkeeper finished the game with a 42 percent catch rate and was consequently named player of the game.
The German handball players are now in the main round of the Handball World Cup and will take at least two points. On Sunday the last preliminary round game is against the Czech Republic (6 p.m., live on Erste and on sportschau.de), Switzerland can also reach the next round with a point against Poland.