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Handball World Cup 2023 – Germany loses against Norway: scratched at the top of the world

2023-01-24T09:08:16.061Z


In the first World Cup defeat against Norway, the German handball players showed what they still lack on the way back to the top of the world. Nevertheless, the team was enthusiastic – Lukas Podolski is also enthusiastic.


Enlarge image

Juri Knorr follows the final minutes against Norway

Photo:

IMAGO/Tilo Wiedensoler / IMAGO/camera4+

Scene of the game:

Juri Knorr shook his head on the bench.

He was angry.

Seconds earlier, the German handball playmaker had collided with a Norwegian defender during an attack.

The referees called it a foul, but the Norwegian broke cover and ran into Knorr.

In any case, when the score was 25:25, the ball went to Norway in the 55th minute.

It was an extremely controversial decision that became the turning point of the game.

The DHB selection then remained without its own goal for almost four minutes.

The result:

Norway took advantage of the unrest in the German team and showed in the last five minutes why they are among the best teams in the world.

Norway was now more ripped off in the last main round match of the World Cup in Poland and Sweden.

In the end it was 28:26 for the Vice World Champion from 2017 and 2019. The German handball players lost for the first time at this World Cup.

Here is the match report.

Here's how it goes:

Although both teams were already qualified for the quarter-finals before the kick-off, Norway now advance to the next round as group leaders and meet Spain there.

An opponent that national coach Alfred Gíslason would have wished for, as he said later.

Although Spain is also one of the top teams in international handball, it is in a state of upheaval.

Now the DHB selection has to deal with another opponent: record world champion France is waiting on Wednesday.

Full steam ahead:

A game takes place every two days, a handball world championship is a real tour de force, and both teams were sure of the quarter-finals.

So one might have expected a quiet evening, two teams looking to rest a bit ahead of Wednesday's quarter-finals.

It didn't come to that.

In the first half, Norway and Germany offered an impressive attacking game, 34 goals were scored in the first 30 minutes alone.

In the second half, the focus was on the goalkeepers, every goal was hard earned.

The game took place at a high level.

Chants for the "guy":

"Andi, Andi," echoed through the hall in Katowice, Poland.

Although Germany's number one had a difficult time against the Norwegian attackers, Andreas "Andi" Wolff was hard to beat in the seven-metre throw.

Wolff was able to save twice in the first half against the Norwegian shooters and made the fans cheer.

Lukas Podolski was also among the spectators.

The professional soccer player and former international is currently under contract in Poland with Górnik Zabrze.

During the half-time break, he said on the ARD microphone: "Wolff is an outstanding type.

How he gets the bench going, how he gets his team-mates going – you need guys like that, not just in handball, but in football too.«

Man of the match:

Wolff put in a strong performance and made ten saves.

Norway goalkeeper Torbjørn Bergerud even topped that number with 12 saves, mostly reserved for the final stages when Norway finally prevailed.

Again and again the former Flensburg player was on the ball with his foot, arm or another part of his body - there was no way around him.

It is probably no exaggeration to describe this game as the game of life for Bergerud.

Self-critical tones:

“Of course this defeat hurts.

It annoys us all,” said Knorr after the first bankruptcy at this World Cup.

The German hopeful once again played well and was involved in nine goals.

But these good numbers didn't seem to cheer him up, instead he sounded self-critical: "Now we want to show that we have character.

We'll get up again.” The DHB team couldn't be accused of lacking character.

The team kept up against a top team for 55 minutes and, after many disappointments in recent years, scraped back to the top of the world.

Only: In the final phase she was too easily swayed by referee decisions like the whistle against Knorr in the 55th minute.

The DHB team is still missing the last bit of cleverness on the way back to being the absolute top team.

Outlook:

The opponents of the DHB selection got tougher from World Cup game to World Cup game.

She cleared all the hurdles, and the surprise team from the Netherlands was swept off the field recently.

Now five last strong minutes were missing against Norway, but the World Cup is not over.

Already on Wednesday against France, the German handball players can show that they can keep up over the full season.

That they remain calm even in heated situations.

One thing is clear: With Dika Mem, France has what is probably the best player in their ranks at the moment.

It will no longer be easier for the DHB selection at this World Cup.

Source: spiegel

All sports articles on 2023-01-24

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