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Seven throws, seven goals: Lukas Mertens was in top form against Serbia
Photo:
IMAGO/Marco Wolf / IMAGO/wolf-sports photo
Scene of the game:
Getting a grip on an almost two meter tall cabinet like Johannes Golla, which also weighs 110 kilograms?
Not easy.
That is exactly what the Serbian handball player Miloš Orbović managed to do, he grabbed the German line runner with both arms, who was standing with his back to the goal and was not in a good starting position towards the goal.
And then in the 39th minute the ball was still there to make it 26:21.
Without seeing the goal, Golla had thrown the ball or rather pushed it, maybe even snipped it.
In any case, Golla had scored an almost symbolic goal that evening: The German handball players scored against Serbia from almost every position.
Result of the game:
As against Qatar, it was tight again, but in the end the DHB selection prevailed 34:33 against Serbia, which was rated as strong.
Germany has thus also won its second game at the World Cup in Poland and Sweden and made it perfect for the main round.
Read the match report here.
The late bloomer:
Lukas Mertens couldn't be brought under control against Serbia, his shots from acute angles repeatedly ended up in the goal.
He had four goals after 15 minutes, seven at the end, with a shooting rate of 100 percent.
Mertens is one of the most spectacular German handball players, fans of SC Magdeburg know that anyway, but his great talent is only now being seen in the national team.
The left winger, already 26 years old, had to struggle a lot with injuries in his career, he only celebrated his tournament debut with the DHB selection at the European Championships last year - and he became infected with Corona there.
Mertens is like a new signing for the German squad at this World Cup, and an important one.
Play of the game:
Mertens also played one of the main roles in the most handsome German attack.
Juri Knorr had marched the ball in the direction of the Serbian goal, he looked briefly to the right and thus shifted the opposing back team to that side, then Knorr threw the ball to the free left side to Mertens.
A fine move by the playmaker and his teammates refined it: Mertens from Magdeburg didn't take the shot himself, but instead passed the ball across to Christoph Steinert, who threw the ball into the goal while it was still in the air to make it 13:10 (18th minute).
On the touchline, Alfred Gíslason drummed on his chest for joy at this Kempa trick.
Wolff's calf holds, his hands less:
things didn't always go quite as well on the defensive as in the German attack.
With a tight 19:17 we went into the break.
Serbia didn't give up and Germany number one Andreas Wolff rarely got his hands on the ball. Wolff had to end the opening game against Qatar seconds before the final whistle with a slight calf strain.
Although he was fit again in time, he had a hard time behind a weak German defence.
He fended off a total of only two of 17 throws.
From the 26th minute, the second DHB keeper Joel Birlehm was between the posts.
Unofficial Player of the Game:
Kampfsau Golla was officially awarded, and that was fine.
But in this game, a few others would have deserved the honor.
The outstanding passer Knorr (eleven assists), winger Mertens or the constant driver Julian Köster, who was still playing in the second division a year ago.
Goalkeeper Birlehm would also have been a candidate.
By the middle of the second half at the latest, the 25-year-old had finally arrived in the game and with his many saves (eight in total) he made a significant contribution to the fact that the furious German attacking game was rewarded with a win.
"He's screwed us," Knorr said of his teammate from the Rhein-Neckar Löwen.
Team manager Oliver Roggisch later even gave Birlehm the sign for the player of the day, but the number two remained modest and didn't accept it.
Sticking point in defence:
"Everything's fine up front," national coach Gíslason said during a timeout shortly before the end of the game, and that's exactly how it was.
This powerful offensive game can still bring the DHB selection at the World Cup far.
But there will soon be opponents who will punish the weaknesses in defense even more severely.
"I'm very happy," said the often grumpy Gíslason afterwards on ARD, before going back to the teacher's tone.
»There are still some things we can improve.«
Outlook of the game:
The last preliminary round game against outsiders Algeria on Tuesday (6 p.m.) is still pending, entry into the main round is already certain - and with this win against Serbia the DHB selection has done a little more.
In the recent past, there was rumbling in the German game, tight games often decided the opponents, the 2021 World Cup was historically bad with twelfth place.
With the two wins at the start of this World Cup, the German team has already freed itself from the bad feeling of past tournaments.
The big pressure is gone.
