European Championship qualifiers in Bregenz

Handball ace Wagner: “This is a good place”

Austria's men's handball team start their European Championship qualifiers against Turkey in the Arena Bregenz on Thursday (18). Circle player Tobi Wagner will also be there. He is particularly looking forward to returning to his old stomping ground and is full of confidence ahead of the match.

"It was a bit of a special feeling to be back," reveals ex-Bregenz player Tobias Wagner, who joined German Bundesliga stragglers Erlangen in September - and has been preparing for the European Championship qualifiers with the national team in the seaside city since Monday. "It's a good place. We clearly won here in the last qualifier against the Faroe Islands in 2023. We're delighted to be back."

Different expectations after EURO gala
The four-team group starts on Wednesday against Turkey and Tobi's former Fivers colleague Pehlivan ("He's an absolute top performer and difference-maker"), followed by Switzerland in Schaffhausen on Sunday (top opponents Germany await in March). The starting position for team boss Ales Pajovic's selection? "We have a different set of expectations thanks to the great EURO in January," said Kreis Wagner, who was in a historic eighth place. Tenor: "We have to win against Turkey, we should win against Switzerland. If we can do that, then we will have taken a big step towards successfully qualifying."

Like the hosts Herburger and Zivkovic as well as Bregenz ace Mahr, leading man Tobi wants to play a key role. He was given more of a chance recently at Erlangen, which lost 27:33 at leaders Melsungen. "I was able to build up my self-confidence and am now on an upward trajectory," said the 29-year-old, who has always been close friends and roommates with teammate and Szeged legionnaire Seppo Frimmel.

PS: Jozsef Albek replaced the injured build-up duo of Eli Kofler and Nemanja Belos. Born in Hungary, he plays for Graz, where he already played under Pajovic...