Shortly before the start of their last group game against Brazil, the situation had changed for the German handball players: Losing was now prohibited. The Norwegians had defeated the French who had already qualified for the quarter-finals in Group A, so it was clear to national coach Alfred Gislason and his men: “It would have gone home if we lost the game.” That was “noticed at the beginning,” said Gislason, and the nervousness was evident, “we weren’t good there, neither in attack nor in defense.” The Germans were lagging behind well into the first half. Before a seamless throw from Juri Knorr marked the turning point, 12:12. At halftime it was already 16:12.
And in the end, the selection of the German Handball Federation had won the game 29:25, which meant third place – and gave her a quarter-final against Egypt on Tuesday. Denmark plays against Norway, Spain against Sweden, France against Bahrain. The Germans achieved another goal: “We didn’t want to get Denmark directly,” the world champion.
The best throwers with six goals each were against the Brazilians Steffen Weinhold, which was not surprising, and Juri Knorr, which was a surprise. The 21-year-old Knorr von den Rhein-Neckar Löwen is the youngest in the team, he made his debut on the big stage on Sunday. He was “very happy” about Knorr’s performance, said Gislason, “when he came in, he played a very strong game”.
The Germans lack the man for easy goals from a distance
Juri Knorr’s appearance told a lot about what distinguishes the German team in Tokyo: Many more players contribute to the success than just Gislason’s starting lineup. In this game in particular it was “important that I was able to switch, that Philipp Weber got a break, that Weinhold got a break, that Kai Häfner came in well … That helps us that we have more strength in the last few games”. However, Knorr is again a player who digs his way through the opposing defensive lines with finesse. The Germans miss the classic backcourt player with the strong arm, the man for easy goals from a distance.
First of all, however, they “solved the problem of Brazil very well”, as the once again outstanding goalkeeper Johannes Bitter found, who played through almost to the end. I “never had the feeling that we would lose the game, not even at times when we were behind and when the coach was a little dissatisfied”. Lost against Spain and Norway with only one goal difference, against Norway and Brazil clearly won. “If I had to give us a school grade for the preliminary round,” said Bitter, “it would be a two.”