Denmark vs Germany 15:30 local time

Denmark and Germany meet for the first semi-final of the 2015 IHF Men’s Junior World Championship on the back of two very different Quarter-Finals. 

Denmark trailed behind Spain for most of their Quarter-Final, only equalising for the first time in the 45th minute. This was a match of exceptional defence that just got better as the clock ticked toward the final whistle. After the 50th minute, when the score was level at 20:20, only three more goals were scored – but it was the outside goal from left back Sebastien Henneberg that was critical, putting Denmark ahead with just over two minutes remaining before goalkeeper Kristian Pedersen saved Spain’s final attempt. 

Right back Martin Risom Christensen talked about Denmark’s attacking philosophy after their win against Brazil in the Eighth-Final, where they knocked the hosts out of the tournament. 

“In our attack we just have to play concentrated and just play the same, and the same, and the same.”

The same obviously works – though they were behind from the start against Spain, the Scandinavian side continued pushing, backing their ability to produce goals with focused, neat attack, and were ultimately rewarded. Christensen said they do not adapt their style depending on who they face, so Germany can expect to face a team that will keep them on their toes through to the end. 

Germany had a comparatively easier win in their Quarter-Final, against Group A runners-up Belarus. Germany have shown themselves to be an outstanding side at Brazil 2015, with talented back Simon Ernst leading the side in offence, the exceptional line player Moritz Preuss, who scored 17 goals against Belarus, and two strong goalkeepers with Jonas Maier the star against Belarus. 

Denmark play a flatter defence than Belarus and so may be able to control Preuss better, but how effective he can be against the Scandinavian team will prove a deciding factor. 

Whatever the outcome, if both teams are playing their best, this semi-final should be one to remember. 

Egypt vs France 18:00 local time

The second semi-final of Brazil 2015 is the clash between two teams who have shown real togetherness and passion as squads throughout their campaign and both of them move venue for the first time - from Uberaba to Uberlandia.

France remain the only team to have won all seven of their games so far and faced a relatively-easy quarter-final against Romania on Wednesday, where they finished 30:20 winners.

Egypt, who have a loss and a draw to their name, caused a real shock to those following the tournament as they beat Sweden (28:27) in the last seconds in their quarter-final, pressuring the Scandinavians into making mistakes, but that should not take away from a strong defensive and offensive performance that deserved the win.

This result though was not a shock for their coach Wael Abdelaaty Sayed Aly, who had watched the tournament favourites the night before get taken to additional time against Portugal.

“The Portugal game was very heavy for them,” said Abdelaaty. “That game was equal at the end which meant that if you pressured them you can get a lot of the ball and that’s what I told my guys tonight.”

Ahead of that quarter-final against Sweden Abdelaaty replaced goalkeeper Hesham Bassem Abdelmoaz, with centre back Nasralla Moustafa Khairi.

“Three goalkeepers are too much for me now,” explained the Egypt coach. “All our players have heavy legs due to their hard work but I need a lot of players which means that I can take one goalkeeper out of my three and have a new player.”

His left back Yehia Mohamed is joint third top scorer at Brazil 2015 with 45 goals, 16 behind the top score on 61 (Shkurinskiy - RUS) and has played the most time for Egypt in the tournament, but the real heartbeat of the team is centre back Mohab Hossam Mohamed, their number nine who has made 29 assists, ranking third in the tournament.

Whilst the statistics say Egypt are vulnerable to breakthrough and fast break goals, Abdelrahman Amr Badawy will be aiming to stop them - he leads the tournament on blocks, with 15.

“My players have got more to give,” said Abdelaaty. “I don’t stop and I don’t give up with telling them this; first they have to do it for themselves and for our country second, but I don’t need to do anything, the players have the spirit to win.

“I just made sure they were cool [against Sweden], they didn’t have any pressure around them. I told them we have a target and that you guys have the spirit and can do it.

“I told them at the end that I believe they can win and told them they will win - at our team meeting I told them we would win this match and that I believe they go all the way to the end.

“We have a good spirit, but I have told them to do something for themselves here in Brazil because this is the end of their youth.

“When they go back to Egypt they will be men, not youths anymore and they should make a good memory for their generation.”

All the pressure of the match will be on the shoulders of France Coach Johann Delattre, with his team the only team to have won all seven of their group, eighth-final and quarter-final matches, but he is not taking anything for granted.

“We take each match at a time,” he said after their 30:20 quarter-final victory against Romania. “It was a very good match from Florian Delacroix and we will now prepare for Egypt."

When asked about the secret of their success and the reason behind the Romania win Delattre simply replied “defence” and with Julien Meyer the third-ranked goalkeeper at the tournament with 79 saves out of 207 shots (38%) it is a tough ask for Egypt to have much luck against the French ‘Minister of Defence’, however, the other end of the court will certainly be a cause of concern for Egypt.

Right-back Guiedo Traore , who has scored 22 times is the most relied upon player by Delattre, clocking up over five hours of play in both a defensive and offensive role and he comes second to Delecroix on 32 strikes.

But the deadly Youenn Cardinal with 11/14 7m strikes could prove crucial if the game went all the way to a 7m shoot-out.

With the stats confirming France as one of the best teams on breakthrough goals and fast breaks (26/30), their captain, centre back Alexandre Saidani, who celebrated his 21st birthday yesterday will be hoping he has two celebrations in as many days.

“We will approach the game with a lot of concentration,” he said. “Egypt are a very good team; you know that if they are in the semi-final of a World Championship then they are a good team and we are the same, but we are focussed.

“We want to win the semi-final and the final and we want to win the gold medal,” he continued. “Everybody is feeling good, everybody is working hard and everybody has a smile - we are a family, it’s a big defence, with a great goalkeeper, and when we change players we are all at the same level.

“We had good self-control and we play together. We had a good preparation for this tournament where we trained a lot and ran a lot and I think you are seeing that make the difference here at the World Championship.

“I am the captain and I say to my brothers before every game - we are a family and we do everything together.”

Saidani will be hoping that is a win later today.