German handball players do not give up hope for the World Cup

Alfred Gislason hadn't expected a long night. Disappointed by the bitter defeat of 28:29 in the last World Cup preliminary round against Hungary, the national handball coach only wanted to sleep for a few hours. The Icelander hardly has time.

In early Wednesday morning, he had to watch videos of the opponent of the first main round of Spain, shortly afterwards he moved to a hotel in the east of Cairo. The DHB selection did not even have time for training before the game against the Iberer on Thursday (8:30 p.m. / ZDF).

Although the chances of reaching the aim of the aim of the aim of the tournament in Egypt have dropped considerably, the 61-year-old and his players do not give up hope. "This team showed an incredible character and why shouldn't they show this character against Spain?" The national coach said after the defeat against Hungary. Captain Uwe Gensheimer announced that he would go into the main round "with full throttle". And DHB Vice President Bob Hanning said: "It will be incredibly difficult now. But we will take morality with us, we will take the analysis of the mistakes with us and we will now play everything for us. Nothing is game."

In fact, the duel with the European champion plays a key role. Since Germany started the main round with 2: 2 points after the defeat against Hungary, the quarter -finals would hardly have a chance if it were going to be bankrupt again. With a win, however, the DHB selection would be again in the race for the coveted co-round. "It is clear to us that if you are now in the main round, you want to make progress," said the back room player Julius Kühn. "We have no choice but to get points against Spain," said Gislason.

The German team must be a long -awake from the start and defense. And she needs two strong goalkeepers. Andreas Wolff and Johannes Bitter did not come in top form against Hungary. And the inner block only worked when Johannes Golla and Fabian Böhm formed it.

The captain must also improve. After a bad performance in the opening game against Uruguay, Gensheimer was surprisingly not in the starting line -up and only came into play in the second half. "It doesn't matter now," said the 34-year-old. It remains to be seen whether he will compete against the Spaniards. His representative Marcel Schiller was the best German thrower against Hungary with seven goals.

© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210120-99-94457/2

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