ód (DPA) – German volleyball players lost their second game in a row at the World Cup in the Netherlands and Poland. National coach Vital Heinen’s team lost in Lodz to the Olympic champions of the United States with a 0:3 (17:25, 13:25, 24:26).
Despite a strong showing the day before, Germany also suffered a 3-0 loss to defending champions Serbia. In the final group game on Saturday (4:00 pm/Sportdeutschland.tv), the German Volleyball Association meets Canada.
A win in this duel will be especially important as the points won will be taken against teams that have also qualified for the Intermediate Round. Thanks to their victories against Bulgaria (3:1) and Kazakhstan (3:0) at the start of the World Cup, DVV players have already achieved their goal of advancing to the next round. German volleyball players have not yet won medals at the world championships.
“The United States is number one in the world, an absolute top team with various medal successes in recent years,” coach Heian enthused about the opponent before the game. Their players initially performed surprisingly well at the Atlas Arena in ód, before the Americans showed their class from the middle of the first set. After clear talk in the second set, in the third set the American team got more challenge than Germany.
© dpa-infocom, dpa:220930-99-963269/3