germany’s handball team has secured an early spot in the World Cup’s main round. Under the leadership of goalkeeper Andi Wolff, Alfred Gíslason’s squad clinched a 31:29 (15:14) victory over Switzerland in their second preliminary round match, maintaining their position at the top of Group A.
“Naturally, I’m relieved we came out on top.We struggled for most of the game and only found our rhythm in the final 15 minutes,” commented national coach Alfred Gíslason during a post-match interview on ZDF, reflecting on the team’s underwhelming performance.
Julian Köster emerged as the top scorer for Germany, netting seven goals.Meanwhile, playmaker Juri Knorr made a timely return to the court after recovering from a knee injury.
In contrast to their dominant wins against Switzerland last year—27:14 at the home European Championship and 35:26 in the European Championship qualifiers—the German team found themselves trailing early in this encounter. It wasn’t until the 20th minute that Germany managed to level the score. They secured their first lead just eight minutes before halftime. With ten minutes remaining,the game was still fiercely contested.
