The consolation prize beckons: Germany's handball players want to end the World Cup against Norway forgivingly - and take revenge. The defeat in the main round should remain only one of two in this tournament. To do this, however, a renewed burglary must be prevented.
Legs limp, heads heavy - but the German handball players are by no means lacking in motivation for the last part of their World Cup adventure. "We have revenge. It's our own little final now," said left-hander Christoph Steinert - and he grinned. In the game for "consolation prize" fifth place against Norway, the selection of the German Handball Association (DHB) wants to end the World Cup on Sunday (1 p.m. / ZDF) forgivingly. A win against the Scandinavians, who beat Germany in the main round at the beginning of the week, should also serve as an encouragement for the long preparations for the 2024 home European Championship.
"We can show that we still have the strength to end the tournament with a win. That would be a very strong performance from the boys," said national coach Alfred Gislason. Goalkeeper Andreas Wolff added that finishing fifth in the World Cup was definitely "a success". In preparation for the ninth game in 17 days, Gislason did not ask his team to go to the training hall on Saturday. The Icelander only put a loose strength unit and - of course - video study on the plan.
The overtime thriller against Egypt (35:34) should definitely have been an issue again. Germany almost gave up the first game of the placement round on Friday despite an eight-goal lead. With a strong Wolff, last strength and a bit of luck, the DHB men somehow saved the victory at the finish. But nobody in the team was really happy about it at first. "Frightening," said captain Johannes Golla annoyed, the collapse from the 42nd minute was. "We do everything wrong that can be done wrong." Could he at least take something positive from the game? "I don't think you can rate the end of the game positively," said the circle runner.
The frustration and anger at the ten unnecessary extra minutes, in which the regulars in particular had to get the coals out of the fire, could be seen on his face. The DHB leader needed to speak: "It has to be clearly addressed what happened there. If you want to play at the top level, something like that shouldn't happen." The drop in performance after the break was reminiscent of the quarter-final defeat against Olympic champions and World Cup finalists France on Wednesday. "I know where the problems are," said Gislason, alluding to the breadth of his squad. But he can't "clone players. I'm trying to compensate for that."
The fact that all of his handball players will be used and needed against Sander Sagosen and Co. is considered certain. Gislason announced, for example, that Lukas Stutzke, who had been flown in especially for the placement round, would be given a lot of playing time, and Juri Knorr's substitute Luca Witzke should also be asked more to playmaker position. But the question remains: will all players have enough strength for 60 minutes? When it comes to left winger Lukas Mertens: yes! "It's not like we're blowing on the last groove," said the left winger and added: "We're at a World Cup, that's how it is."
