It happened: The selection of the German Handball Federation (DHB) suffered its first defeat at the Handball World Cup in Poland and Sweden. Of course, one without major consequences, because the quarter-finals in Gdansk had already been booked. And also without disappointing, because in a high-class game with at times insane speed, the Germans were on an equal footing against the top team from Scandinavia.
In the end, the German handball players lost almost 26:28 (16:18) and were angry about this defeat, which could have been avoided. “It’s really a shame how we dealt with our clear chances,” said national coach Alfred Gislason: “We should have taken the game home.” Juri Knorr also complained: “The way the game went annoys us all.”
The starting position was clear: the two previously unbeaten teams in the main round group 3 played in a direct duel to win the group – the winner would avoid the French in the quarter-finals on Wednesday. Now it has hit the German team, they are playing against France. The Norwegians meet Spain, which is also not an easy opponent, but perhaps a little more feasible.
Knorr scores very well in the first half, Sagosen sits on the bench a lot
Rune Dahmke, the left winger from THW Kiel, was a bit of a surprise in the starting line-up, as Lukas Mertens had always been preferred until then. A good idea from the national coach, because Dahmke scored the first goal for the German team, which started the game very nervously. In complete contrast to the Norwegians, who quickly pulled away to 4:1. But then there was Juri Knorr: The German playmaker has proven to be an outstanding player, it sometimes seemed as if he wanted to prove that the best player in the world is not on the other side, whom many see in Sander Sagosen.
But Knorr played like he was turned on. He either tricked the ball through to the circle, or he scored himself with a brace – seven of his eight goals came before half-time. Sagosen, on the other hand, spent an unusually large amount of time on the bench and his services were not needed for the time being. Norway played fast, shot safely and had strong backing in goal in Bundesliga club Leipzig’s Kristian Saeveras. Although Knorr led his team several times to equalize, it was never enough to take the lead: the Scandinavians were almost 18:16 ahead at the break.
The defense was better in the second half, but there was a problem in attack. Because while goalkeeper Andreas Wolff again increased to a world-class performance, his front men missed too many chances. Regardless of whether it was free from the circle, from the outside or from the back, the chance to take the lead was missed several times – also because Torbjörn Bergerud, the former Flensburg player, was in the Norwegian goal and was immensely strong. Once Bergerud parried within seconds against Johannes Golla and Patrick Groetzki. “We throw everything away against the goalkeeper,” lamented Gislason.
Ten minutes before the end, Germany got the only lead of the whole game despite everything: First Djibril M’Bengue equalized, then he served Jannik Kohlbacher to 25:24. But the next setback followed immediately: Luca Witzke unluckily kicked right winger Kevin Gulliksen and saw a red card. The Scandinavians used this shock to score four goals in a row and narrowly secured victory.