Second match, second victory for European Champions-League winner THW Kiel: But the Germans had to give much more than yesterday to beat the strong Pinheiros team from Brazil.
Clube Esporte Pinheiros (BRA) – THW Kiel (GER) 29:36 (14:21)
It rarely happens that players from both teams are satisfied after a match – but this was the case after the match in question: Kiel was happy about its second victory, Pinheiros was happy about another strong performance it had shown. Although it was unable to seriously endanger the Germans, the Brazilian team kept up well in the second half to reach a second half draw. Kiel missed some shots in the very beginning, but after 20 minutes, they had well warmed up despite some good actions of Pinheiros’ left-back Oliveira. Thanks to goalkeeper Thierry Omeyer and its improved defence, THW extended the margin to seven goals until the half-time break.
Coach Alfred Gislason changed his whole team again for the second half – and the Germans started well, increasing the margin to ten goals (27:17). Being assured of its victory, Kiel decelerated and lacked concentration in attack. Not only Kiel’s faults but also a strong Pinheiros performance brought the Brazilians back on track. With seven minutes to go until the final whistle, the margin had been reduced to five (26:31) before Kiel decided the match. Pinheiros’ goalkeepers Maik Dos Santos and Cesar Almeida both made brilliant saves, whereas Kiel’s Kim Anderson scored seven goals to become the top scorer.
With two matches completed Kiel remains head of Group A with four points. Pinheiros is ranked fourth, having earned 1 point from their unlucky draw with Al-Rayyan.
Quotes after the match:
Alfred Gislason, coach of THW Kiel: I am satisfied with our play most of the time. We had full respect for Pinheiros after their performance against Al-Rayyan on Saturday. So we had to keep concentrated during 60 minutes to obtain those two points. Now we hope for the final, but we have to beat the Qataris first.
Dominik Klein, player of THW Kiel: I use to play in the left wing position but I was the playmaker in the second half, maybe this was the reason why Pinheiros could reduce the margin. But we stuck to our game, although the Brazilians came closer.
Sergio Hortelan, coach of Pinheiros: We are pleased with this good result against one of the best teams in the world. We wanted to win, of course, but it is like a victory for us that we managed to reduce the margin to five. I’m really satisfied with the final result.
Fabio Vanini, player of Pinheiros: Now we support Kiel in their fight for the Super Globe title. We know that German handball is the best handball in the world next to Spanish handball. Thus we made a fine performance. The result is ok for us.
Photos by Adel Aldelimay