Despite a turbulent night before the game, the exotic handball players from Cape Verde celebrated their first World Cup victory ever.
Despite a turbulent night before the game, the exotic handball players from Cape Verde celebrated their first World Cup victory ever.
The Africans won their opening game at the finals in Poland and Sweden against Uruguay 33:25 (17:11) and are about to advance to the main round, which is reached by the top three teams in each group. Other preliminary round opponents are European champions Sweden and Brazil.
The game was not only a premiere for Cape Verde due to the first win, but also for Maike Merz (37) and Tanja Kuttler (34). The sisters from Baden-Württemberg were the first German female referees to officiate a men’s World Cup match. “We consider it an appreciation of our work to have been nominated for this World Cup,” Kuttler had previously said. The duo has been whistling together since 2008 and has also been used in the men’s Bundesliga since 2019.
Beds collapsed in crew quarters
In the run-up to the game, there was a lot of excitement in the Cape Verde team because six players had to change hotels at night. The reason: in the crew quarters, the beds had crashed together. This was reported by the Swedish newspaper “Aftonbladet”.
“I don’t understand what the hotel was thinking! Some of the players are two meters tall and weigh over 100 kilograms. Nevertheless, they had to lie in wooden bunk beds, which then collapsed,” Nilton Delgado told the newspaper. The 49-year-old businessman, along with other supporters, is sponsoring the stay of the Africans at the World Handball Championship.
Cape Verde had already caused a stir at its World Cup premiere in 2021 in Egypt. At that time, the Africans were supposed to play against Germany in the preliminary round. However, due to numerous corona cases, the team had to cancel the game and ultimately withdraw from the tournament altogether.
Favorites start the tournament with victories
Led by Bundesliga star Jim Gottfridsson, co-hosts Sweden made a successful start to the World Cup. The director from SG Flensburg-Handewitt led the European champions in Gothenburg with six goals to a 26:18 (11:9) victory over Brazil.
Spain also made a successful start to the finals. The 2018 and 2020 European champions defeated Montenegro 30:25 (15:12). The duel of the outsiders in group A was won by Iran against Chile with 25:24. In Group D, Iceland beat Portugal to a 30:26 (15:15). Hungary defeated South Korea 35:27.
Source: Stern
I have been working in the news industry for over 6 years, first as a reporter and now as an editor. I have covered politics extensively, and my work has appeared in major newspapers and online news outlets around the world. In addition to my writing, I also contribute regularly to 24 Hours World.
