Great fight, but still lost: Germany’s volleyball players suffered their first setback in the second group game at the Olympic Games in Paris – and now have to worry about making it into the quarter-finals.
The team around veteran Georg Grozer fought back from a 0:2 deficit against the favored Americans, but ultimately lost dramatically 2:3 (21:25, 17:25, 25:17, 20:25, 11:15). The three-time Olympic champion USA found the better answer in the thrilling final phase in the Arena Paris Sud in front of around 10,000 enthusiastic spectators.
After the surprising opening victory against Japan, who are second in the world rankings, the German Volleyball Association’s team searched in vain for a long time for a way to counter the USA’s powerful attacking power. Matthew Anderson exploited the gaps in the German defense with his outstanding smashes. The 37-year-old alone scored 14 points in the end, and Torey Defalco contributed 18 points in the USA’s second win in a row.
On the other hand, the team of national coach Michal Winiarski was not able to push through their game often enough, Grozer and captain Lukas Kampa were not having their best day either, the Germans made too many simple mistakes, especially in the first two sets. So they lacked the strength at the end.
Final against Olympic bronze medalist Argentina
The effort was just as it was in the 3:2 thriller against Japan. The DVV team fought with passion, even diving after almost hopeless balls. On the sidelines, the substitutes tried to whip the team forward, every point was celebrated frenetically – but in the end the USA were too strong.
Nevertheless, the German team still has a chance of reaching the quarter-finals when it returns to the Olympics after twelve years. The final match in Group C will take place on Friday (9:00 a.m.) against Argentina, the Olympic bronze medalist in Tokyo. With a similar performance to that in the Japan match, anything is possible for Grozer and Co. against the Albiceleste.
Only the first two teams in the three groups of four will qualify for the knockout round, plus the two best third-placed teams.
Source: www.sport.de
