Tournament in Denmark
Handball player Smits about the World Cup winning goal: “Screamed in”
Xenia Smits scored in the last second against Japan. photo
© Sven Hoppe/dpa
Xenia Smits’ throw fits perfectly – also thanks to the loud support of a teammate. The German handball players can take the next step against Iran.
Handball player Xenia Smits helped the DHB team win at the last second thanks to loud cheering from teammate Julia Behnke.
“Jule practically shouted the ball in,” reported the backcourt player after the trembling 31:30 against Japan and said about the hectic final seconds: “After the foul, the ball was still somewhere on the right winger, so I went, grabbed it quickly and played it to Jule, who passed it back to me. Then it had to go straight to the goal.”
After the opening win against the self-sacrificing Asians, national coach Markus Gaugisch’s team can make it into the main round on Saturday. In the second game of Group F, co-captain Alina Grijseels’ team will face outsiders Iran at 6 p.m. (Sportdeutschland.tv). On Monday there will be a duel with the supposedly strongest group opponent Poland.
If the DHB team wants to achieve its minimum goal of the quarter-finals, the coordination in defense must be significantly improved. Conceding 30 goals against Japan was too many. “But we don’t worry too much about it. We have mastered the nimble handball style of the Japanese,” said co-captain Emily Bölk.