The German basketball players have made a successful start to the World Cup year.

The team of national coach Gordon Herbert, who already qualified for the World Cup in the summer, beat Sweden in the penultimate qualifying game in Frankfurt am Main even without the NBA stars around Dennis Schröder with 73:66 (40:31). The German team will be fighting for group victory at the end of the second group phase in Finland on Monday.

In front of 5003 spectators in the ball sports hall, Herbert used the game against the Scandinavians to test some younger players. Since the professionals from the German Euroleague clubs Alba Berlin and Bayern Munich were also absent, three players from the Chemnitz 99ers celebrated their debut in the national jersey in Jason George, Nelson Weidemann and Jonas Richter. The best German thrower was David Kramer with 13 points.

Although the team had never played together in this composition, they showed a decent performance. After initial difficulties, the hosts pulled away in the second quarter and were nine points ahead at half-time.

Voigtmann as leader

The inexperienced team was led by center Johannes Voigtmann. The veteran, who was co-captain when they won bronze at the European Championships last summer, only joined the team on Friday morning after having played for Milan in the Euroleague on Thursday evening. "Jo is simply the professional par excellence. It's a great sign and important for the boys that he's here," Herbert praised the 30-year-old.

This Saturday, the team will fly from Frankfurt to Finland, where the last qualifying game will be played on Monday (5.30 p.m. / Magentasport). The Finns won 97-95 after extra time in Israel on Friday and, like Germany, have a record of 9-2 wins. "We want to be first," said Herbert, even though winning the group has no meaning for the World Cup draw on April 29 in Manila, the capital of the Philippines. The World Cup will take place from August 25th to September 10th in the Philippines, Japan and Indonesia.