Germany reach the knockouts
January 22, 2015
Germany's handball team have made the knockout rounds after their 28-23 victory over Argentina, and have now set their sights on winning the group. Dagur Sigurdsson's team battled their way to a win thanks to a great goalkeeping performance from Carsten Lichtlein, leaving them top of Group D with three wins. One more win on Saturday against underdogs Saudi Arabia would secure the 2007 world champions the top spot in the group and an easier opponent in the knockout stages.
"We can't take our foot off the gas now," said Sigurdsson before the game - and in the end, his men did nothing of the sort. With the same line-up that earned a surprise draw against Denmark, Germany endured a physical start. Patrick Groetzki was a force in attack, scoring seven, but Argentina pushed Germany and even took an 8-7 lead at one point. Were it not for Lichtlein, Germany might have been worse off.
Captain Uwe Gensheimer was struggling to make his usual impact, and collectively, Germany were making a number of technical errors. Sigurdsson made changes but the score remained close. Just as they did against Russia though, Germany came out with greater focus in the second half. Steffen Weinhold and youngster Paul Drux made sure of Germany's lead - Martin Strobel showed a touch of flair to add a goal of his own - as the score jumped from 19-all to 22-19.
Lichtlein stole the show though. The 34-year-old saved the two penalty shots he facedfrom seven meters out, impressed as a playmaker and started the majority of Germany's flow. Argentina tried to fight back, but Germany stayed calm to celebrate their entry to the knockout rounds.
jh/msh (SID)