Germany rebounds vs. Argentina
January 15, 2013
Coach Martin Heuberger's men earned an important Group A victory Tuesday in front of 4,200 fans in Granollers, Spain.
Leading the way for Germany were Patrick Wiencek and Adrian Pfahl with five goals each.
There were six world championship debutants in the victorious German side, who also won their opening match against Brazil on Saturday.
"We fought hard for over 60 minutes, so we really earned this win," Heuberger said. "We played with a lot of speed."
Argentina's offensive 3-2-1 formation left plenty of space for the German attack to take advantage, and take advantage they did. Germany led from the start in the match, despite the strong play of Argentine goalkeeper Silvio Heinevetter.
The first half finished 17-13 to Germany, and 18 minutes into the second period of play Germany pulled out to a 26-20 lead.
Argentina managed to pull within 2 with just under a minute to go, but quick goals from Michael Haass and Kevin Schmidt in the dying moments sealed the victory for the Germans.
The win helps Germany recover from a surprise 25-23 loss Sunday to African champions Tunisia. With four points, Germany sit second in Group A and are in a strong position to qualify into the quarterfinals.
Germany play Montenegro next on Wednesday before taking on defending world champions France on Friday.
dr/mkg (dpa, SID)