LILLE, France, Aug. 9 (Xinhua) -- Germany upset Spain 25-24 in the Paris 2024 men's handball semifinals here on Friday, advancing to the gold medal match against Denmark, who edged Slovenia 31-30.
Germany trailed 24-23 with five minutes on the clock, before Lukas Mertens hit the ball into the top right corner to pull the match level. Juri Knorr broke through the middle to score the winner for Germany. Denmark missed a last chance to equalize as Agustin Casado's shot was blocked by Andreas Wolff.
"It's amazing. For some of us, it is our first final in eight years. We've been waiting for this, we have had several semifinals in the last tournaments, and I'm really happy that we finally managed to qualify for a final again and already won a medal," said Wolff, who made 22 saves in the match.
In the later match, Denmark escaped from a last-minute scare to edge Slovenia 31-30. Denmark led 31-27 with less than seven minutes to go, before three consecutive goals for Slovenia narrowed the gap to only one goal with 55 seconds left. Slovenia were awarded a penalty in the last minute but keeper Mikkel Hansen made a crucial save.
The final will be on Sunday, when Germany take on Denmark for the gold medal, while Spain face Slovenia in the bronze medal match. ■
微信扫描下方的二维码阅读本文
