Hungary - Germany 25:28 (13:16)
Dethroned title defenders Germany well deserved their win over Hungary to come off fifth in the final ranking. Germany's defence acted well against tired Hungarians. Moreover shooter Lars Kaufmann (8 goals) and keeper Silvio Heinevetter left their marks on the match. Hungary went into the lead last at 7:6 before Germany rushing to 12:7. Laszlo Nagy (Hungary's top scorer - 5 goals) was the sole to break through the German stronghold. After changing ends the Magyars reduced the goal deficit to 15:16 but another 5:0 series put Germany into a favourable position. When the match was decided Hungary could reduce the margin again. But the Magyars lacked power to turn the match. Moreover they often came of worse in front of Heinevetter.

 

Quotes:
Heiner Brand (Coach Germany): "We gave everything we could and managed to compensate well for sidelined Pascal Hens and Sebastian Preiß. The team was comfortable on the court so I want to pay my players a big compliment. In fact, we missed to make through to the semi-finals but the WCh tournament and the fifth place still mean an achievement for us."

Janos Hajdu: "Germany would have deserved a spot in the semi-finals. We were unable to show our best performance in the ninth match here."

 

Ranking:

5. Germany
6. Hungary
7.
8.
9.
10.
11. FYR Macedonia
12. Korea
13. Spain
14. Egypt
15. Romania
16. Russia
17. Tunisia
18. Argentina
19. Algeria
20. Cuba
21. Brazil
22. Kuwait
23. Saudi Arabia
24. Australia