Dhe red scratches ran almost once around his entire neck, Juri Knorr wiped his hand over it a few times. But the welt was not so easy to remove. He was marked, the German playmaker, marked by a thrilling fight against Serbia, in which the Germans once again made it very exciting due to Knorr’s poor passes later on – but this time they didn’t buckle in the end and decisively kept the opponent at bay: 34: 33 won the selection of the German Handball Federation (DHB) on Sunday evening in Kattowitz and has achieved a first intermediate goal, namely defeating the strongest group competition.
Key players in the second victory at this World Cup in Poland and Sweden were Knorr as a largely prudent director, second goalkeeper Joel Birlehm with nine late saves and left winger Lukas Mertens with a spotless record of seven goals from seven attempts. The Magdeburg winger embodied with powerful, dynamic actions the determination that the Germans radiated on this atmospheric evening in front of 2500 fans in the Spodek Arena. National coach Alfred Gislason took a deep breath: “The win is extremely helpful. Otherwise all dreams would have been over.” The quarter-finals in Gdansk are still within reach for the DHB.
“In the end, Joel saves our butts”
Knorr then radiated something else in the interview zone – tiredness. “It was incredibly intense,” said the 22-year-old professional from the Rhein-Neckar Löwen, “I was there for 60 minutes, that took a toll on my strength.” Knorr contributed eleven assists; It was thanks to him that the German seven led by five goals in the 42nd minute (28:23). But it was also because of him that the Serbs were back in business four minutes later at 30:28: “It was up and down for me again. In the end, Joel saves our butts.”
Joel, surname Birlehm, job as a goalkeeper, came on for Andreas Wolff shortly before the break, introduced himself with a save and repeatedly interspersed actions throughout the second half that hurt Serbia – such as a saved seven-metre throw in the 51st minute. In the end, there were nine saves that Birlehm contributed to victory. It was also urgently needed to keep the Serbs at a distance – they remained a tough opponent until the end and until their 34:33 four seconds before the siren.
The fact that their strong goalkeeper Dejan Milosavljev remained injured in Berlin with the foxes meant a trump card for the Germans on Sunday evening – the goalkeeper position was a Serbian weak point without him. While right winger Patrick Groetzki, the most experienced German, later emphasized that it was a game on a knife edge and complained that his team had not brought the success home more clearly, captain Johannes Golla saw the positives above all: “Such a victory against such an opponent can definitely carry us.”
Defense seeks stability
Gislason had trusted his starting seven again at the beginning and watched how the Germans were striving for a seemingly clear half-time lead over 9:6 and 15:11. However, the defense sometimes sought stability from the first game, the win against Qatar. Since nothing came from the goalkeepers at first, there was no more than a two-goal lead at the break. Gislason tried a lot. He covered more offensively, he brought in Julian Köster for the again weak Philipp Weber, he tried Paul Drux and again and again with Jannik Kohlbacher on the circle. Christoph Steinert’s acceptance also paid off.
There it was, the wide range that everyone in the DHB warehouse is enthusiastic about and that should become a decisive plus. “Everything that can run was there from left to right, from front to back,” said Kohlbacher with a laugh, “that helped a lot in this tough game against a good opponent.” When the Germans then began to throw away the lead that seemed safe , it was Birlehm’s hands and feet and an important goal by Mertens (59th) to make it 34:31, which prevented the imminent loss of points. As is his custom, national coach Gislason later did not forget to warn about the next opponent – this Tuesday against Algeria, victory three in this very complicated Group E is supposed to come. And maybe things will be a little more relaxed then.
