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Number 15 flies: Gauthier Mvumbi is one of the new faces at this World Cup
Photo: Mohamed Abd El Ghany / POOL / EPA-EFE / Shutterstock
Again and again the man with the number 15 threw up his arms.
Play me and I'll do the rest, should that mean.
When the man with number 15, Gauthier Mvumbi, got the ball, it was really quick.
The handball player pushed the circle, inserted the body, turned and let the opponents not get near him.
In the preliminary round against Argentina, the handball player from the Congo managed to do this four times.
But from the beginning.
Mvumbi has set three goals for the World Cup in Egypt.
The cyclist wants to have fun with the Congolese national team, he said.
The handball players from the Congo are among the many outsiders at the tournament, and for the first time ever they have qualified for a final round.
And they are there mainly because the World Cup is taking place for the first time with 32 instead of 24 nations.
So having fun is his first goal.
The 26-year-old also does not want to get Covid-19.
Mvumbi told a French newspaper that "this damn virus shouldn't rob him of the best time of his life," the time at the World Cup.
No corona, goal two.
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Sometimes it's white, sometimes red, sometimes black: Mikkel Hansen's headband
Photo: Henning Bagger / imago images / Ritzau Scanpix
And then there is a third matter open, and that's where the current world champion from Denmark and superstar Mikkel Hansen come into play.
He wanted to steal that headband from this player, whose trademark is not only powerful throws, but also head of hair and above all the headband.
Mvumbi said that a competition had arisen in the Congolese selection to remove Hansen's headband.
And he wants to win this competition.
Whether that will work will be clarified on Sunday when Mvumbi and his teammates meet Denmark.
The World Cup in Egypt is not yet the battle of the major handball nations for the title in the preliminary round.
It is also a stage for outsiders and amateurs, for nations that normally do not play a role in world handball, and for some players who are often more amateur athletes in the lowest leagues in Europe, but are the best handball players in their home countries.
The Congolese Mvumbi, active in the club in the fourth division of France, is one of them.
Now he's at the World Cup.
Being an outsider doesn't mean Mvumbi can't enjoy her time in Egypt.
On the contrary: In the very first game against Argentina he scored four hits in four throws.
Once the cycle breaks through, it can hardly be stopped.
He has mass and the assertiveness that is needed in his position.
The pictures of his goals spread quickly on social networks and whoever examines them will come across a rather cold-blooded player.
Its major weak point is the backward movement, which is not entirely unimportant in handball and is punished fairly quickly.
Argentina punishes them enough that evening.
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Gauthier Mvumbi and his teammates after the Argentina duel
Photo: Mohamed Abd El Ghany / POOL / EPA-EFE / Shutterstock
His team is unlikely to survive the preliminary round.
The differences between the newcomers to this World Cup and especially the European nations are too big.
That became clear at 43:14 between the DHB selection and Uruguay.
The team from Mvumbi, which only scored against the South American representative and tournament outsider Argentina, had to admit defeat at the end 22:28.
The goals, the opportunities
Even so, the chances are not that bad that Mvumbi will achieve at least part of his three goals.
The Uruguayans against the DHB selection showed how much joy the small nations themselves have when they lose.
Every good deed was celebrated like a victory.
The Congolese did not look sad either when they left the field as losers.
Being there is everything, that's how it works.
So goal one, have fun, that's what Mvumbi should achieve.
With the second goal, just not to infect with corona, you have to be a little more skeptical.
The corona virus is the constant topic at the beginning of this World Cup, two nations had to cancel at short notice after reporting too many players who tested positive.
The first cases have also occurred in the Danish and Slovenian selection, the next German opponent, Cape Verde, is also affected.
However, no positive case has been proven in the Mvumbi team.
That leaves the third goal: Mikkel Hansen's headband.
One has to doubt that the world star gives up the headband voluntarily.
In 2019 the Danish handball team became world champions and when the trophy was presented and the players had long been in the mood for a party, when it didn't matter whether hair was blowing through their face or not, Mikkel Hansen was still wearing his headband.
Mvumbi faces a tough challenge on Sunday.
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