Andreas Wolff was sitting on the bench, he had already pulled his tracksuit over the jersey. As if he was just waiting for the departure to the hotel. But the game against Spain was still going on, and Wolff was needed after all. The German number one should be in a seven-meter for his representative Silvio Heinevetter goal.

Although the German handball players led with four goals, but nothing was decided, the 51th Minute ran. But Wolff seemed absent. It took several seconds until he responded to the hints of the teammates. Wolff could not fend off the seven-meter penalty, but that was no longer particularly important that evening.

If Andreas Wolff seems dreamy in a World Cup match, then something really can not be right. One is used to quite different scenes from him: reflexes, throws, cheers. But this time was also a bit different: On Monday, the fans had seen in the Cologne Arena still a gripping victory over Croatia and celebrated the premature semi-final. Ten million viewers watched the drama on television, three million more than the start of the second half of the Bundesliga. Handball Fever!

Now, against Spain, everything seemed a little smaller. The mood in the stands was good again, but the gossips seemed a little quieter on that evening. The recent strong defense did not hold as strong against, which confirms the high number of goals in the 31: 3ß victory in the last game of the main round. But all that mattered: because France had already lost their duel against Croatia before, the DHB selection would have had to lose with ten goals to slip into second place.

Who wants two group phases?

This raises the question of whether this quite complicated mode with a second round after the preliminary round really makes sense. Whether a knockout system would not be more exciting, as it has been in the past three World Cups. Then there would be no headache about pranks from the preliminary round, less tactics and no felt test matches just before the semi-finals, when the tournament is about to culminate. Instead, the World Cup has taken a little break, at least from a German perspective.

But the whole truth is that the other main round group with Germany's upcoming semi-final opponents Norway (Friday, 20.30 clock, live ticker SPIEGEL ONLINE) and co-hosts Denmark (semi-final against France, also on Friday) was exciting until the end.

National coach Christian Prokop said that "as a competitive athlete you are used to putting pressure into play", and for Fabian Wiede Spain was "not as important as against Croatia". But for her it was a good feeling before the semi-finals, and a "nice farewell from Cologne, where the fans have roared us against Croatia to victory," said Prokop. They got that, the German team is still unbeaten at this World Cup.

It was an evening of gestures: in the half-time break, the world champion team from 2007 was allowed to celebrate by the Cologne audience. The complete DHB board around Bob Hanning wore Martin Strobel jerseys with the back number 19, a salute to the injured playmaker, who had torn on Monday against Croatia, the anterior cruciate ligament. And Silvio Heinevetter was allowed to collect World Cup minutes, as in the final preliminary round match against Serbia. The 34-year-old came on eight saves and 32 percent blocked balls.

"So we can beat anyone"

That Germany has a strong number two behind Wolff is the one finding of this game. But you already knew that. The other good news for Prokop, however, was the tournament debut of Tim Suton. The national coach had nachnominiert the 22-year-old after the injury of Strobel, and sent against Spain for almost half an hour on the plate. The debut went well: Suton scored four goals, he played courageously and tried several times through breakthrough to come to a conclusion - two goals reach him after such individual actions. With Fabian Böhm out another actor from the second row out, he came up with five goals in five throws and was awarded as a player of the game.

"We have a broad squad," said Böhm later and perhaps named the most striking strength that has brought the main round to light: In the first game against Iceland Steffen Fäth was the match winner, Fabian Wiedes great moment went up against Croatia, and this time boasted Böhm. "That's the way we can beat anyone," Wiede said.

The collective is also considered the strength of the coming opponent: Norway has behind the tricky and scorching playmaker Sander Sagosen some exciting professionals. For example, Magnus Jondal from the SG Flensburg-Handewitt, the 30-year-old has scored 46 goals in this World Cup - with only 51 throws. On Friday, Jondal gets to deal with Andreas Wolff, who is likely to be more attentive than Spain in the 51st minute.