Simon Hirsch takes Germany over Mexico to Mexico

This was the fifth match between Germany and Mexico in a major international competition. The European team already has four victories against the North American side, but this was the first one 1991.

After a beginning on equal foot, Germany took over command and extended the lead from 8-7 to 14-10. The Mexicans often missed the right timing and were not able to work up a head of steam for Germany. Tobias Krick scored for 21-14 while Mexico failed to offer some serious opposition to the Germans in this phase of the match. With an awesome serve, Daniel Malescha made it 23-16 and Simon Hirsch made use of set point one to close the set at 25-17.

Set 2 started and, immediately, Germany went one better. Christian Fromm placed a hard-smashed ball in the Mexican court. But the underdog kept fighting and evened the score at 3-3. Germany made a 4-0 run and went 10-6. With a spectacular point by Krick and a blocking point by Fromm, the team of star head coach Andrea Giani extended the lead to 15-9. The Mexicans could score such lovely points like the one for 14-17 by Pedro Rangel just at rare occasions. Furthermore, Germany played very well with a successful blocking performance. After 21-17, Ruben Schott and Marcus Boehme led Germany to set point and Fromm closed the set at 25-22.

Even in the third set nothing changed. After a 0-2 deficit, the German team made things clearer. With an ace, Jan Zimmermann extended their lead to 10-6, after which Germany continued in the same style. Malescha and substitute Georg Escher closed their points stunningly. Mexico fought a losing battle. After a long time, Jorge Barajas managed to score in offence, but there were few highlights for Mexico in set 3. The Germans walked on masterfully to their fifth success out of six matches. In the end, Moritz Reichert closed the match with a hard-smashed service.