World Cup victory against the Czech Republic: Handball players warm up for Denmark’s cracker

The German handball players are safely continuing their successful run at the World Cup and are moving into the main round with the best possible number of points. National coach Alfred Gislason’s team defended their lead in the table with 29:22 (11:11) against outsiders the Czech Republic and prepared themselves for the main round clash against top favorites Denmark with their best tournament performance to date.

In front of over 6,000 spectators, Renars Uscins was the best German thrower with eight goals. Goalkeeper David Späth also excelled with numerous saves.

The DHB selection had already secured their ticket for the second phase of the tournament before the preliminary round final. However, after the third win in the third game, the starting position for the minimum goal of the quarter-finals has improved further.

At the start of the main round there will be a new edition of the Olympic final against the Danes on Tuesday. In the summer, Germany received a heavy slap in the gold game. Other opponents in the group of six are Italy on Thursday and Tunisia on Saturday. The best two teams qualify for the quarterfinals.

Keeper Wolff replaced early

“The demands on this team are a bit too high at the moment. We are currently a long way from a medal,” Gislason said before the game. The bad German initial phase should confirm the Icelander’s analysis. Two missed seven meters, Julian Köster completely out of character and an overall offensive without a plan: the DHB selection only scored one goal in the first seven minutes.

In contrast to the shock win against Switzerland, goalkeeper Andi Wolff didn’t have a good day this time. Gislason brought on Späth in the 13th minute, who promptly drew attention with several saves. Thanks to playmaker Juri Knorr, Germany fought its way into the game and took the lead for the first time after around 21 minutes (9:8). Apart from him and Renars Uscins, the DHB handball players initially found too few solutions on the offensive.

Späth parries and scores

Immediately after the break, the Olympic silver medalists were clearly the better team. The inner block around captain Johannes Golla blocked the Czechs’ path several times. When it came to scoring, the German handball players acted much more consistently and pulled ahead by four goals for the first time (18:14).

The outsider’s resistance was broken. With his eighth save, Späth sent the German fans traveling there into ecstasy – the U21 world champion even scored a goal himself with a throw across the entire field. Uscins once again became a guarantee of success, as he still had a throw rate of 100 percent 15 minutes before the end – and thus sent a warning to the upcoming opponent from Denmark.