Superb 10:0 run lifts Germany past Norway, Austria finish 13th with win over Brazil

Germany will join Portugal in the Placement Match 5/6 after they built an outstanding 10:0 unanswered run and turned the game on its head against Norway to clinch a 35:30 win.
 
Austria finished 13th with a 36:24 win over Brazil, Japan ended up on the 21st place after their 29:24 win against Algeria. At the same time, Rwanda secured their third win of the competition, 41:29 against USA, to finish 27th, as the final standings are starting to shape up.
 
Placement Matches 5-8

• Norway vs Germany 30:35 (15:16)

For 41 minutes, Norway and Germany traded blows, and it was impossible to predict who was going to be the winner, as there were twists and turns throughout the whole game, with Germany being the first team to lead by four goals before that lead was cancelled by Norway.
 
But while Germany’s goalkeeper Frederik Höler saved 13 shots over that span, Norway’s pair managed only six saves between them and that was always going to be a worrying trend for Norway, which needed more in defence, when Germany’s attack started getting better and better.
 
And that is exactly what happened, with Germany combining an ultra-efficient attack with a magnificent defence to create a 10:0 unanswered run, which would be devastating for any team, not only for Norway, which failed to score for 11 minutes and eight seconds in that span.
 
Therefore, all of Norway’s might and their 21:19 lead were swept immediately under the rug, as Germany created their own eight-goal lead, 29:21, which could not be cancelled in the remaining 11 minutes of the game, despite all efforts made by Norway’s top scorer, Lasse Sunde Lid, who finished the match with nine goals.
 
In that 10-minute run, Max Günther and Marvin Siemer each scored three goals for Germany, as not even two team time-outs called by Norway did not manage to stop the rut, with Germany eventually running away with a 35:30 win.
 
Therefore, Germany ensured they either finish five or six, facing Portugal in the Placement Match 5/6 on Sunday, their best placement outside of the two medals they earned, a silver in 2019 and a bronze in 2013.
 
Norway will face the Faroe Islands in the Placement Matches 7/8, aiming to stop a three-game losing streak, which started against Denmark and continued against Croatia and Germany.
 
hummel Player of the Match: Max Günther (Germany)
 
Placement Match 13/14

• Austria vs Brazil 36:24 (20:14)

It was a nip-and-tuck game for the first 20 minutes, with the two teams trading blows, but with Austria, which had previously secured their best-ever finish at the IHF Men’s Youth World Championship, always in the lead, by as many as three goals (10:7).
 
With a 4:1 run spurred by their top scorer, Mikael Lopes Candido and fellow back Lucas Gabriel Vieira da Silva, Brazil tied the game (11:11). Still, Austria became unstoppable in the last 10 minutes of the first half, scoring nine times, with five players managing at least three goals.
 
But Austria’s true hero was goalkeeper Leon Theodor Bergmann, who maintained a saving efficiency higher than 50% for most of the game, having a 17-save tally in the 42 minutes, four times the number of saves managed by Brazil’s goalkeepers until that point.
 
It was no surprise, therefore, that the gap grew to six goals at the break (20:14), and even more significant, to nine goals, after 44 minutes, 27:18, with Brazil failing to get any momentum whatsoever in their challenge to mount a comeback, as Austria had too much depth.
 
With the hummel Player of the Match Daniel Wuzella scoring eight goals, the gap grew even higher. Austria definitely delivered one of their best games so far in the competition, creating a 12-goal gap at the end of the match.
 
With their 36:24 win, Austria finished 13th at the 2023 IHF Men’s Youth World Championship, their best-ever finish in the competition, while Brazil ended up on the 14th place, still their best result since 2015.
 
hummel Player of the Match: Daniel Wuzella (Austria)

Placement Match 21/22

• Algeria vs Japan 24:29 (10:17)

After beating Algeria by five goals, Japan finished 21st, their lowest-ever ranking at the IHF Men's Youth World Championship. Algeria took the 22nd position, so they made a little step forward compared to 2015 and 2017 when they ranked 23rd.

For Japan, it was the third victory at Croatia 2023, and it was well-deserved, as the Asians were dominant throughout the match. And even if their shot efficiency was just 55%, it was a bit higher than Algeria's 52%.

However, Soi Hasegawa rose above the average, scoring nine goals from ten attempts to become one of Japan's top scorers. And his teammate Shohei Yoneda did a great job in goal, boasting 17 saves for a 50% save efficiency.

These players' impact helped Japan from the opening minutes, as they pulled in front 5:0 and later 8:2. Algeria later stabilised their game. Yet, the Asians had the upper hand and increased the gap to seven goals at the interval.

Mahdi Ahmed Anisse became Algeria's best scorer with seven goals, but it was hard for his team to count on a second-half comeback. A string of goals from Kippei Furukawa saw Japan increasing their advantage to 11 goals (26:15) in the 47th minute, and although the Africans then enjoyed a 6:0 run to reduce the deficit, it was too little and too late. 

hummel Player of the Match: Shohei Yoneda (Japan)

Placement Match 27/28

• Rwanda vs United States of America 41:29 (19:11)

Rwanda returned to the winning after a defeat against Georgia. On the last day of competition in Hall Marino Cvetković in Opatija, the African side beat the United States of America and said their farewell to Croatia 2023 with positive thoughts.

Even though Rwanda was the first side to gain the lead, the United States of America took over ten minutes into the game after a great shot by Benjamin Edwards. However, the Americans couldn't hold the lead for long as Kayijama Yves was unstoppable for his side.

Grayson Wilde had a great day at the office with 11 saves by half-time, keeping his teammates in a close game. And while Rwanda set 14:11, nothing pointed towards the blank seven minutes of the game. Neither side could score and technical mistakes were coming one after another. 

Rwanda broke the chain of failures and, with 60% attack efficiency, went on an eight-goal lead. The USA came to the second part of the game more concentrated and showed one of their better 30 minutes of play, but they couldn't produce a significant goal run to catch the opponents.

When Rwanda felt their attack faltered and the USA are eager to narrow the gap, their 5-1 defence, often switching to man-on-man defence, saw the debutants without a solution in the attack. As a result, Rwanda restored their lead and entered the last ten minutes of the match with 32:24 on the scoreboard.

Rwanda closed the game by passing the 40-goal mark taking the most out of the USA's 33 turnovers. Still, the Americans can be proud of the goalkeeper Wilde who counted to 23 at the game and saved them from a defeat on a larger margin.

hummel Player of the Match: Kayijama Yves (Rwanda)

Photo: Croatia 2023/Kolektiff images