Alfred Gislason is always available for a few minutes of opponent observation. So the German national coach sat down in the stands in Herning, Denmark, two hours before kick-off of the German national team’s first World Cup game. He greeted left and right, then looked at what the two upcoming opponents, Switzerland and the Czech Republic, did in their opening game. It wasn’t scary, the game ended 17:17, and perhaps it was good for Gislason to think about something else for a few minutes.
Because the tension was noticeable before the start of the World Cup against Poland on Wednesday evening. Two mediocre test matches against Brazil were enough to raise slight doubts about the German team’s World Cup form. Not entirely without reason, the Germans initially had a difficult time against Poland before they were able to win the first game of this World Cup 35:28 (15:14). As a result, Gislason even had a smile on his face during the analysis on the ARD microphone, but the Icelander had not overlooked the fact that “we had problems for 40 minutes today”. Poland’s half-left Ariel Pietrasik and the giant pivot Kamil Syprzak had caused problems for his team in the first half, but at least “we improved in the second half”. What the national coach meant above all was the significantly improved exploitation of opportunities.
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Juri Knorr scored the first goal; the German middle man jumped completely freely through the Polish defensive line after just 40 seconds. But the early lead did nothing to ease the nervousness. What followed was a somewhat wild opening quarter of an hour in which the DHB team repeatedly had good actions, but life also became more difficult because the players threw away a lot of free balls. Polish goalkeeper Adam Moravski from Bundesliga leaders MT Melsungen often had his finger in the game.
Juri Knorr injured his knee, had to be treated and remained on the bench
First Knorr missed, then Uscins, later the game’s top scorer with ten goals, failed from the six-meter line, and Julian Köster also only hit the post. After a Polish mistake in substitution, Knorr played a completely unsuccessful pass out of bounds with double the advantage. The game remained close, and shortly before half-time goalkeeper Andreas Wolff made a remarkable save from a Polish penalty by catching the ball with his foot and kicking it into the ceiling. At half-time the German team at least led by one goal.
Gislason had been warning his team for days not to take the opening game against the Poles too lightly. Coach Marcin Lijewski’s team is currently rebuilding and is still a long way from repeating success like 2007, when the Poles surprisingly won silver at the World Championships, back then with big names like Slawomir Schmal and Karol Bielecki. But the results in preparation were good, and as the game went on, the Poles felt that something could be done against this nervous German team.
The key for the Germans was defensive work; all too often in the first half the Poles found their way across the circle, right through the German middle block. Captain Johannes Golla and Köster were unable to completely prevent the breakthroughs in the second half, but because the attackers now scored more consistently, the German team took their first three-goal lead (18:15). The variant with two nominal players was particularly successful: Luca Witzke organized the game in the middle, Knorr came from the left back position. Given the pace that prevailed in the German backcourt, the Poles were often only able to look behind the scenes.
With persistent work, the German team gradually pulled away. The strong Witzke, who was recommended for further minutes of action at this World Cup, scored the first five-goal lead (30:25). Backcourt talent Marko Grgic also came into the game and scored the first World Cup goals of his career. Goalkeeper Wolff also played his part in the Poles losing faith in the big surprise – he saved two more seven-meter throws. But Wolff also warned that there was a need for discussion: “Ultimately it is a good result, but we still have to discuss how.”
At one point there was still a lot of activity on the German bank. The strong Knorr slipped and grabbed his knee and had to be treated while lying behind the bench for several minutes. His failure would hit the German team hard before the second game on Friday against Switzerland (8.30 p.m./ZDF).
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