KPowerful dampener instead of tailwind for the knockout round: Germany’s handball women suffered a bitter defeat at the end of the main round of the World Cup and now have to face hosts Spain in the quarter-finals. The DHB selection lost on Sunday evening in front of 800 spectators against Denmark with 16:32 (8:13) and was shown their limits for the first time in the tournament.
With 8: 2 points, the team of national coach Henk Groener finished the main round group III as second behind the Danes (10: 0). In the fight for the semi-finals against the World Cup runner-up from 2019 on Tuesday, a significant increase must be achieved in order to keep the tender dream of the first medal since 2007 alive. The best German thrower in the duel with the three-time Olympic champion Denmark was backcourt player Alina Grijseels with six goals.
“We didn’t find our game at all in the attack from the first minute”,
explained Groener, “we were too scared, had too much respect for our opponents.”
Looking at the upcoming knockout game, it is clear: “We have to act differently.”
Unlike in the previous five tournament games, the German team was not up to date with the kick-off. Missed throws and technical errors in the attack and gaps in defense were responsible for a quick 4-0 deficit after seven minutes. Only goalkeeper Dinah Eckerle was immediately at operating temperature and prevented worse with a few parades.
The DHB team scored the first goal after 9:30 minutes when Grijseels successfully completed a quick counterattack. However, this was not the initial spark hoped for. The German women could hardly stand up against the aggressive cover of the Danish women – and if they did, they mostly failed because of the strong Althea Reinhardt in the Scandinavian women’s goal.
The game was over early at 3:10 after 20 minutes, especially since backcourt player Mia Zschocke saw red a little later because of a hard foul on her opponent. In the quarter-finals, however, she is allowed to participate again. Only in the final phase of the first half did the DHB selection get into the game a little better and at least approached five goals by the break.
The already faint hope of catching up after the change was over after seven minutes at 9:19. Again, the Groener protégés sinned in all areas and made it easy for the good-humored opponent, who is one of the medal candidates at the finals. As a result, the German team was no longer able to raise their performance and went off the floor as the clear loser.
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