European Handball Championship kicks off

LIVE: Germany gets off to a flying start against Austria

Austria came away empty-handed against Germany in their European Championship opener.(Bild: GEPA)

Austria suffered a 30:27 defeat against Germany at the start of the European Handball Championship. Despite a committed performance, the favorites were too strong for the ÖHB men on Thursday. However, the defeat is manageable, and the focus must now be on victories in the upcoming matches against Spain and Serbia.

There was no surprise in the latest clash between the two neighbors. Austria's men's handball team gave title favorites Germany a run for their money until the very end in Herning on Thursday at the start of the European Championship in Denmark/Sweden/Norway, but ultimately had to admit defeat with a score of 27:30 (8:12). This puts them under pressure in the battle to finish in the top two of Group A and advance to the main round against Spain on Saturday (6:00 p.m.).

The Iberians celebrated a hard-fought 29:27 victory over Serbia on Thursday. The Balkan team will be Austria's final opponent on Monday (6 p.m.).

The duel presented itself as an explosive one in the run-up. The ÖHB selection had twice forced a draw against the Germans in their last four competitive games, and DHB goalkeeper Andreas Wolff provided extra motivation at the beginning of the week with his statement that Austria was playing "anti-handball." In addition, the Red-White-Reds received bad news in the morning: defensive specialist Michael Miskovez had to be removed from the squad after suffering a rib injury in Sunday's test match against Slovenia and was replaced by Emanuel Petrusic.

Strong defense, weak offense
However, the defense was not a cause for concern anyway, as it repeatedly succeeded in thwarting Germany's fast play. Nevertheless, the multiple medal winner in final tournaments was leading 4-1 in the eleventh minute. This was mainly due to offensive difficulties, and it was only when Sebastian Frimmel made it 2-4 that things started to improve. Austria switched to the 7-6 power play that had been successful in previous years and gradually worked their way back to 6-6 (18th minute).

After that, however, a few inaccuracies crept in, some of which the Germans exploited ruthlessly. Five minutes before the break, Wolff and Co. were four goals ahead for the first time (11-7) and took this lead into the break. The ÖHB team kept up after the restart, closing the gap to 11:13 (36th minute), but quickly fell behind again (16:12/39th minute). The 17:12 (39th minute) after one of the technical errors in attack – which occurred too often overall – gave Germany its first five-goal lead.

Austria, which was not particularly fortunate at times, did not give up. They closed the gap to three goals (20:17/44.) and did not allow coach Alfred Gislason's team to pull away. On the contrary: in the final stages, the score was suddenly 24:26 and 25:27 (55th minute). But when Wolff, who was strong again that evening, saved a seven-meter throw from Frimmel at 25:28 (58th minute), the game was over.