Germany’s handball players were not able to reward themselves with a win for a strong performance in the penultimate World Cup test against Iceland. The long-dominant DHB selection lost to the sixth place in the European Championship on Saturday in Bremen by 30:31 (18:14). In front of 8,872 spectators in the sold-out ÖVB Arena, captain Johannes Golla and playmaker Juri Knorr were the top scorers for national coach Alfred Gislason’s team, each with six goals.
Gislason saw a “very, very good game for a long time,” “it’s annoying that we’re giving it away,” he said on ZDF.
On Sunday (3.30 p.m./ZDF.de) both teams will meet again in Hanover for the World Cup dress rehearsal. In the final round in Poland and Sweden, which begins next Wednesday, the German team will play in the preliminary round against Asian champions Qatar, Serbia and Algeria.
The German team needed a short warm-up time to find their rhythm and quickly fell 3-0 behind. Only in the 5th minute did Philipp Weber score the first goal. Gradually, however, the host adapted better to the opponent and equalized at 4:4 (10th). Shortly thereafter, right winger Patrick Groetzki provided the lead for the first time with his goal to make it 7:6.
The defense was now more compact and behind them experienced goalkeeper Andreas Wolff, who was there in the 2016 European Championship triumph, proved to be a strong support. With a number of saves, the 31-year-old played a major role in increasing the lead to four goals at 14:10 (23rd). Playmaker Knorr shone in attack. The 22-year-old from the Rhein-Neckar Löwen often skilfully staged his teammates and was always looking for a finish himself. Gislason, for whom it was the first duel with his home country, followed the action on the sidelines with satisfaction.
In the final phase of the first half, the DHB selection remained focused and took the four-goal cushion with them into the break, during which they were greeted with great applause by the enthusiastic audience. As at the beginning, the German team also slept through the starting phase in the second half. Within just three minutes, the Icelanders came within a goal. But the Gislason protégés were unimpressed. With their own 6:0 run to 23:17, the DHB team even pulled ahead by six goals.
The national coach used the clear advantage to experiment with personnel and changed almost completely. Joel Birlehm replaced Wolff between the posts, and Leipzig’s Luca Witzke was able to prove himself as a playmaker. The many changes led to a break in the German game. Almost eight minutes before the end, the Icelanders were close to a goal again at 26:25 and a little later they took the lead again for the first time. Gislason reacted and sent his top trio in the backcourt and regular goalkeeper Wolff onto the floor again. But that didn’t help in the end.