The German handball women are already at operating temperature five weeks before the home World Cup. The team of retiring national coach Michael Biegler won the World Cup runner-up against the Dutch team in Magdeburg on Saturday with an impressive 23:18 (11:9).
Outstanding player on the stage was the outsider Angie Geschke with seven goals. The Germans will have a chance to get the next exclamation mark on Sunday at 5.30 pm, when the second duel against the Dutchwomen starts in Berlin.
The victory against the world class team from the Netherlands gives the European Championship sixth Germany a tailwind for the decisive phase of the World Cup preparation. Before the opening match against Cameroon on 1. December in Leipzig tests the selection of the German Handball Federation on 24. November still in Slovakia and one day later Iceland receives Iceland in Dresden.
Biegler will end his career as national coach after the World Cup and will be in charge of SC DHfK Leipzig, the men’s national league team, from the beginning of the year. His successor at DHB will be Dutch coach Henk Groener.