Germany opened the 23rd IHF Women’s World Championship on Friday with the expected victory against Cameroon, finishing with a 13-goal score line in their favour in a packed Arena Leipzig.  

“It was amazing. We were excited of course, we were really looking forward to this first match. When we came to the hall it was amazing – 6,000 people are standing behind you, behind your back and are pushing you. It was a great feeling,” said Germany’s Isabell Klein.

“We didn’t know exactly what kind of handball to expect from Cameroon. They are really a little bit special. It’s not typical European handball, it’s African handball, so you could see sometimes in some situations we didn’t expect the things they did, but I think with time, more and more we got into the game – we found good solutions, we were more aggressive, clear in the head, really there, we marked, we scored.”

GROUP D
Germany vs Cameroon 28:15 (12:7)

Though Germany finished with a decisive victory to claim their first two points of the Championship in style, the win came at a cost, as starting left back Kim Naidzinavicius was injured in the opening minutes and did not return to the court.

After Germany were the first on the board courtesy of a fast break from left wing Angie Geschke, Cameroon’s strong, offensive defence initially helped them keep the hosts within reach. The African team had more trouble at the other end of the court, as a number of attacking fouls and unforced technical faults meant they lost the ball on many occasions.

“We are really satisfied with the defence, but we had problems scoring goals, we had a lot of difficulties,” said Cameroon goalkeeper Linda Awu Bessong Epah. “Their goalkeepers were good, so it was difficult for us. We hope the next matches will be better, so we can win against one or two teams.”

Cameroon tried changing their 6-0 defence to 5-1, but Germany slowly built a clear lead, pulling ahead to 8:2 midway through the half and taking a five-goal advantage into the break. The African side did not reach double digits on the score board until the last quarter of the match, after they had lost Vanessa Djiepmou Medibe on a direct red card. As Germany had created a score line of more than 10 goals at that point, the match was decided and the hosts celebrated their first two points with thousands of fans at the final whistle.

Player of the Match presented by adidas: Friederike GUBERNATIS (GER)