In a match with huge twists and turns, Germany took their third win in four matches at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, 33:31, against Spain, and ensured safe passage to the quarter-finals, in what is a mouth-watering Group A.

PARIS 2024 OLYMPIC GAMES – PRELIMINARY ROUND
GROUP A
Germany vs Spain 33:31 (20:18)

This was a battle for the ages for both teams, which needed a win to improve their chances for a quarter-finals berth. In fact, if Germany were to win, they would have sealed their safe passage for the next phase, but traditionally, Spain were always dominating in recent years in major international competitions, with Germany’s last win in such an environment coming in 2016.

The battle was on, though, from the start, and the two teams brought a highly-intensive match, with a lot of running and a dizzying pace, as Germany used a 4:1 run, spurred by centre back Juri Knorr, who had quite a quiet competition so far, to wrestle back the lead, 6:4, after Spain’s hearty start.

But Germany still had issues in defence, conceding goals too easy, as coach Alfred Gislason moved first and replaced the starting goalkeeper, Andreas Wolff, who had saved only one shot from the first seven he faced, with David Späth.

Späth saved four shots in the first half, but could not weather the storm entirely, but it was Germany which in the lead throughout most of the first half, backed by Knorr, right back Renars Uscins, the team’s top scorer in the competition, as well as line player Johannes Golla, as it quickly emerged that the match was going to turn into a shoot-out.

Still, it was Germany which held the lead throughout the first half, until the end, when Spain looked a bit jaded, failing to match their opponents, outside of right wing Aleix Gomez, who had his best start at Paris 2024, with four goals in the first half.

Down two goals at the end of the first half, Spain switched to a more aggressive defence and managed to contain Germany’s attack, which scored only six goals in the first 15 minutes of the second half. But after putting 37 past Japan and finally providing a good attacking outing, it was Spain’s attack which shined.

Gomez added three more goals, the left wing, Daniel Fernandez, added two more, as Spain went on a scoring spree, finally taking back the lead with a 6:2 run, which saw the two wings shining on the fast breaks. With Spain boasting a two-goal lead, 28:26, with 15 minutes left on the clock, Germany needed some new impetus.

By that time, Gomez had nine goals, but Spain’s win was not done and dusted. Twice, Germany fell two goals behind. Twice did they rise again and tied the score, with the deadlock still not broken after 52 minutes, 30:30, as the match was heading on a course to be the one with the largest number of goals so far at Paris 2024.

And then Späth cut Spain’s path to the goal. The 22-year-old goalkeeper, a winner of the 2023 IHF Men’s Junior World Championship with Germany, produced a pair of saves to help Germany use a 3:0 run to take a 31:30 lead with six minutes left on the clock, while Gonzalo Perez de Vargas worked his own wonders between the Spain’s posts.

Three times had Spain the chance to tie the score, but each time Späth stopped the shots and finished the match with 13 saves, for a 36% saving efficiency, including an Aleix Gomez shot with 10 seconds to go. On the ensuing fast break, after three chances missed for Germany, Johannes Golla scored his seventh goal, to lift Germany to a 33:31 win.

This meant that Germany clinched a quarter-finals berth, with their third win in four matches, as they cannot finish lower than the fourth place now, while Spain are due to face Croatia in a do-or-die battle for the qualification in the last matchday of the preliminary round in the South Paris 6 Arena.