Status: 01/25/2023 10:48 p.m
Germany’s handball players had secretly hoped for a surprise against Olympic champions France. But nothing came of it. Despite a good performance in the first round, the Germans miss the World Cup semifinals. In the end there was a 28:35 (16:16) defeat in the Gdańsk Arena.
Above all, the poor exploitation of chances and a faulty attacking game in the second half were decisive for the defeat, which ended the longed-for dream of a World Cup medal. Germany is now only fighting for places five to eight.
Goalkeeper Wolff with class parades
The German handball players concentrated on the semi-final project against the favorites. Coach Alfred Gislason’s team showed a good presence from the start. From stable cover and with goalkeeper Andreas Wolff again in a very good mood, who repeatedly destroyed the best throw-in chances of the French, Germany were the better team in the early stages.
By the 15th minute, Knorr, Golla and Co. had established an 11:7 lead. But that was soon lost due to slight mistakes in attack, and the French equalized to 11:11. France’s “oldie” Nikola Karabatic kept throwing seven meters, and Nedim Remili also posed problems for the good German defense from behind.
“Racy game with high speed”
The pace of the game remained immensely high and at a high level. Both teams gave nothing. If the chances had been used even more consistently, the German selection against the four-time world champion could have done better than the 16:16 at the break. The Germans could not be entirely satisfied with that.
“It’s a racy game with a huge tempo and a huge heart from both sides,” said DHB board member Axel Kromer at the break, “after the four-goal lead we had too many ball losses and a little too much risk, which we also need against such an opponent.”
Desperate for Desbonnet
Would the Germans be able to keep up against the title co-favourites? At first it looked very good. The Gislason team bravely came out of the dressing room and pulled away to 20:18 after goals from Häfner, Golla and Knorr. But as in the first half, slight mistakes crept into the German game. In addition, the French substitute keeper Remi Desbonnent, who had come for Vincent Gerad at the break, found his way into the game better and drove the German throwers to despair.
France turned the 18:20 into a 23:20 lead (44th). The Germans were no longer able to make up for this deficit, especially since they were unable to correct slight mistakes on the offensive and Desbonnet continued to excel in the French goal. In the end, the man from HB Montpellier even had a better save rate than Andreas Wolff, who was also outstanding.
On the offensive, Juri Knorr, Johannes Golla and Kai Häfner were not able to set the accents they had hoped for. At 30:25 in the 53rd minute a preliminary decision was made. The ripped-off team couldn’t take this lead anymore and in the end looked forward to an easy and clear 35:28 victory, which was certainly too high for one or the other hit.
Now against Egypt for the placement
France now meet Sweden in the semi-finals in Stockholm, while Germany are in contention for places five to eight in the placement round. The next opponents in Stockholm on Friday are African champions Egypt.
Source: sportschau.de