A knockout punch in the second quarter saw Germany storm to victory and the top of Group A, beating Slovenia 36:29 on Sunday.
Although both sides had safely navigated their way to the quarter-finals, there was an awful lot on the line in their group final.
The winners would seal first place and a potential blockbuster with France in Lille, the defeated could drop as low as fourth in the group, depending on other results, and be faced with the unenviable task of taking on Denmark.
Neither seemed like much of a reward, but then again, it’s the Olympics, you get your reward on Sunday if you win a medal. This was probably for the best for both teams as they could take permutations and possibilities out of their minds and focus on the task at hand, while taking the chance to use their squads and get out without any damage.
Over by the half
Both sides flew out of the blocks and treated us to 11 goals in under seven minutes. Slovenia were dishing out beautiful passes and toying with the German defence as they opened up an early lead.
A switch flipped for Germany as they bust into life, figuring out their opponents and going on a 10:1 run in the final 11 minutes of the half with the back Julian Köster and Kai Häfner having a field day in the back court.
It was game over as a contest from there and both sides used the opportunity to rotate the bench further, get some minutes and goals in the legs for the wider squad and keep everyone on their toe ahead of the short trip to Lille for a whole new phase of the competition.
The loss won’t hurt Slovenia and it won’t trick Germany into thinking they’re unstoppable, both sides move on to severe tests of their credentials on Wednesday.