Euro exit all but certain

European Championship: Horrific first half proves fatal for Austria

Austria had to admit defeat to Spain.(Bild: Krone KREATIV/Screenshot ORF)

Austria suffered its second defeat in its second game at the European Handball Championship on Saturday: After losing to Germany in their opening match, Mykola Bilyk and his teammates were outclassed by Spain, losing 25:30 (12:19). The first half in particular did not go according to plan for the red-white-reds.

While the Iberians booked their ticket to the main round, Austria's chances of finishing in the top two in Group A in Herning are probably gone. To conclude, the team of new coach Iker Romero, who is still waiting for his first win, will face Serbia on Monday (6 p.m./live on sportkrone.at ticker). The pointless Balkan team will face Germany at 8:30 p.m., who can also secure promotion with a win.

Almost exactly two years to the day after the historic 33:33 draw with Spain, which sealed Austria's promotion to the main round and the Iberians' elimination, it was a difficult start for the Red-White-Reds. With a flawed offense and a lackluster defense, they found themselves trailing by three goals (4:7) for the first time in the tenth minute. Thanks to the tireless efforts of Lukas Hutecek, the attack improved, but at the back, the opponents continued to have their way.

Defensive shutout in the first half
In the narrow 27:30 defeat to Germany, the defense had been the highlight, but now neither Constantin Möstl nor Leon Bergmann were able to distinguish themselves, not least because of the many free throws. Up front, the strong goalkeeper Sergey Hernandez was too often the final stop, and this was compounded by a missed counterattack and a seven-meter throw. Under these circumstances, the fact that the deficit remained at three until the 19th minute could still be considered a success.

  But then things moved quickly. Spain pulled away from 13:10 to 17:10 (26th minute) and ultimately forced Austria into its biggest half-time deficit in a competitive game since January 2014 with seven goals. Back then, it was also at the European Championships in Herning Island (9:17). At least the restart was open. With a 3:1 run, they first reduced the deficit to 15:20 (35th minute) and went into the last quarter of an hour at 19:24.

Möstl almost becomes a factor in the finish
It was a brief period of dominance for Möstl, who – suddenly back to his old self – kept Austria in the game with several saves, first at 20:24 (44th minute) and then, with around two and a half minutes to go, at 25:29, when a draw seemed within reach, at least with a man advantage. There were still chances, but they were not taken.