In Villach

Fourth defeat! ÖEHV team outclassed by Slovenia

The Austrian national ice hockey team has also lost its fourth of nine World Championship test games. One day after the 2:5 defeat in Ljubljana, the team lost 6:0 (0:0,0:4,0:2) against Slovenia in Villach on Friday. Next week, team manager Roger Bader's team, which is not yet at the top of its game, will face two duels against the Czech Republic in České Budějovice and Linz.

There was nothing to be gained against the B-nation Slovenia, who had almost fielded their best team. Three shorthanded goals in the middle third contributed significantly to the bitter defeat. "That simply wasn't enough. We have to do much better next week. We can still improve in all areas. We have to step it up a notch everywhere," said Kilian Zündel. In the rematch against the Slovenians, the team started better than on Thursday, but then unfortunately let up and played a cramped final third.

"I have to get over that first. I didn't expect it to be like this, although I already knew that Slovenia were here with a strong team. We're still missing 15 to 18 players," said team boss Roger Bader. His team was particularly physically inferior. "We were physically dominated by Slovenia." With the Czechs, Austria will now face a world-class team. "The opponent will be even stronger."