TOLed by an excellent goalkeeper Katharina Filter and a precise Julia Maidhof, the German handball players also won the second Olympic qualification match and will almost certainly qualify for the Summer Olympics in Paris. After Saturday's match in Neu-Ulm against Montenegro, third place in the Euro Cup, by 28:24 (11:7), the team of national coach Markus Gaugisch has 4:0 points and can plan to participate in the Olympic Games for the first time. time since 2008.
If Paraguay does not win the next match against Slovenia, the DHB team would qualify for the summer matches before the end of the tournament against the South Americans on Sunday (1:30 p.m.). ARD and in Dyn) perfect.
Otherwise, a single point against Paraguay is enough to achieve the big goal. The best German scorer in front of 4,269 spectators was defender Maidhof, who scored nine goals in her 50th international match.
Trust goalkeeper filters
“It is important that we take this step. For the team and for the entire sport,” said Gaugisch before the duel with Montenegro. But his pupils became nervous. Unlike the convincing opening victory against Slovenia by 31:25, there was not much success in attack and only one goal in the first seven minutes.
At least goalkeeper Filter was reliable again. The 25-year-old shined with numerous saves and, against the Slovenians, he was the strong support between the posts that was expected. His teammates were compact on defense, but had problems on offense. Fortunately, Maidhof showed a lot of courage and converted the four seven meters in the first quarter of an hour.
Halfway through the first half, the DHB team had a four-goal lead for the first time at 7:3. But although Montenegro remained goalless for eight minutes in this phase, the German team was unable to take a decisive lead as the best opportunities were repeatedly wasted.
The weak ending continued to be the big drawback. Shooting effectiveness in the first half was only 52 percent. Thanks mainly to Filter we arrived at half-time with a four-goal lead.
After the change, the DHB team raised the temperature. Suddenly things were going well on offense as well. In a few minutes, the sixth-ranked team in the World Cup came within ten goals (20:10). This broke the rival's resistance. Amid the cheers of the fans, the German team continued to concentrate at the end so that the victory was no longer in danger.