The German national handball team also won their second preliminary round match at the World Cup. In the narrow 34:33 win against Serbia on Sunday, the DHB selection knew how to increase against one of the stronger opponents – and can now already plan for the main round. In addition, she should take four points with her, which significantly increases the chances of reaching the quarterfinals.
On Sunday, Andreas Wolff was the first German national player to step onto the blue floor of the Spodek Arena in Katowice to warm up. This settled the question of whether the goalkeeper, who was so important to the team, would be able to play in the second game of Group E; The 31-year-old left a bit of cause for concern after beating Qatar 31:27 in the first game. First he secured victory with his saves – including his specialty, the standing splits, in which he parried opponent’s throws with his foot well above his head – but then hobbled off the field in the final minutes. But the medical department had fixed his overstressed calf.
In the person of Wolff, one of the bigger pieces of the jigsaw puzzle was still there in the German team, which he also proved in the first half. His goalkeeper colleague Joel Birlehm was the man of the evening. The goalkeeper of the Rhein-Neckar Löwen, whom national coach Alfred Gislason surprisingly brought on in the second half, became the match winner in the final minutes when he barely allowed the Serbs, who were pushing hard for an equalizer, to score.
“Joel was outstanding. Especially in the final phase he showed his strengths and proved why we took him with us,” said Gislason on the ARD microphone. Also was “extremely happy for Joel. It shows that we need everyone.” Birlehm himself was reticent: “I’m happy that I was able to help the team. I’m just super happy that we won the game.”
One quality of the German team is that it doesn’t need any start-up phase. In this regard, she delivered her previous masterpiece against Serbia, from the first second the DHB selection played highly concentrated: Philipp Weber, who started next to playmaker Juri Knorr, right winger Patrick Groetzki and Kai Häfner, a reliable scorer and fixed starter in the right backcourt, were with her Hits just too fast for the visibly impressed Serbs.
Birlehm secured victory with his reflexes, Mertens with his goals
That’s exactly what Gislason had called for: a high level of concentration and few mistakes – his players responded impressively. However, that was also necessary against this opponent, the Serbs were not classified as the toughest opponent in the group for nothing. They also proved that, a high-class and fast-paced game developed with moves worth seeing, powerful one-on-one actions and fast counterattacks on both sides. Lukas Mertens in particular knew how to impress, either he completed the finely created chances safely or he converted his counterattack. The left winger of the German champions SC Magdeburg was the best shooter in the DHB selection with seven goals.
In the end, however, it took Joel Birlehm’s outstanding reflexes to win. In the final phase it got tight again. The young German selection apparently began to think about the tangible success, technical errors crept in again, the throws did not find the target, playmaker Juri Knorr’s allusions were too ambitious. In this tricky phase, it was the keeper from Mannheim who secured victory with saves every minute. “Joel saved our asses today,” Knorr said.
Next Tuesday (6 p.m.) is the probably meaningless game against Algeria, because it can be assumed that Qatar and Serbia will advance to the main round with the German selection. With the best chances for the Germans, because the points against the direct opponents are taken.