Handball World Cup: Germany close to quarter-finals after 34:27 against Italy

Juri Knorr wasn’t even in the hall. The German game director skipped the half-hour bus ride to the Jyske Bank Boxen in Herning – Knorr was in bed with an infection. The German Handball Association (DHB) even organized a single room for him in the hotel in Silkeborg so as not to further encourage the spread of the bacilli. Rune Dahmke also received an upgrade, for the same reasons.

Without Knorr against Italy? For a short time it was feared that this personality would prove to be a serious liability in this important main round game. The German handball players were still able to win the nerve-wracking game against the outsiders thanks to an increase in performance. After the 34:27 (15:13) the starting position for the German team at this Handball World Cup was suddenly clarified – the team of national coach Alfred Gislason is almost certainly in the quarter-finals.

If nothing really wild happens in the other games in the main round group, the final main round game against Tunisia on Saturday (8.30 p.m., ZDF) is of only minor importance. Gislason, who was now raging on the sidelines with a bright red head, was happy about “the important victory in the final for second place”. He praised the defense and goalkeeper Andreas Wolff, who had difficulty getting into the game, but also warned: “We have 19 missed throws again, half of them all against the goalkeeper. This could cost us a lot.”

In the quarterfinals the tournament would continue for the German team in Oslo. A big caliber threatens: Sweden, Spain, Portugal, Brazil and Norway are the possible opponents in the first knockout game.

The substitution of Franz Semper brings security to the German team

On Thursday evening, both teams went into the game with noticeable nervousness. The number of technical errors was high: bad passes, catching errors, time lag, everything was there. The Germans also couldn’t cope with the Italians’ open cover at all. Although there are ways to be successful against such a covering formation, center Luca Witzke and his colleagues were repeatedly left without a pass-on point. Renars Uscins alone made three bad passes with serious consequences in the first minutes of the game.

The Italians’ unorthodox playing system initially robbed the German players of any security. It took until the 16th minute before Germany equalized and Julian Köster scored the opening goal with a breakthrough after a fast counterattack (10:9). Nevertheless, the presentation remained shaky, as evidenced by a mistake in substitution by Nils Lichtlein, which briefly gave the Italians a two-man advantage. Annoyed, Gislason took a time out in which he at least tried to calm his team down. The German handball players noticeably lacked Knorr’s organizing hand and his skills in one-on-one situations. The half-time lead of 15:13 hardly calmed the nerves.

With victories against Tunisia, Algeria and the Czech Republic, the Italians had unexpectedly maneuvered themselves into the position of candidates for the quarter-finals – they also realized that with qualification for the quarter-finals in mind they could no longer play so carelessly. The German team was by no means flawless after the break, but Italy no longer took advantage of the opportunities. Because Andreas Wolff parried a few balls and backcourt man Franz Semper, who was deployed for the first time at this World Cup, scored three goals in a row, the Germans increased the lead to five goals (20:15). His debut went perfectly, which was a good insight considering Uscins was a frequent player: “We knew how disgusting it would be, but we played it down well and extended our lead. Now it’s time to get down to business,” said Semper, looking ahead.

From then on it developed into a pure goalkeeping game, the shooters had a difficult time: Wolff parried on one side, Italy’s Domenico Ebner on the other side. The German team maintained their lead and slowly moved away. As the Italians gradually gained ground, the German players, now led by middleman Nils Lichtlein, achieved a greater victory than had previously been apparent.

In order to survive in the quarter-finals in Oslo, a significant improvement in performance is required. It doesn’t matter what the opponent is called on Wednesday.