Victory not enough
Bitter! Austria eliminated in European Championship preliminary round
A bitter European Championship exit for Austria's national handball team. The 26:25 victory against Serbia is not enough to advance to the main round. After two defeats in the first two games, they would have had to win by more than four goals.
Team manager Iker Romero's team beat Serbia 26:25 (12:13) in their third group game in Herning on Monday after a hard fight. It was their first win at this European Championship after two defeats, but it is not enough for the top two in Group A: the outcome between Germany and Spain will decide whether they finish third or fourth.
Hopes for third place
Only the top two teams advance to the main round. Third place means missing out on this goal, but it would have positive consequences for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers. While the fourth-placed teams in each group have to enter the preliminary qualifiers in mid-March – in Austria's case, this would mean a home and away match against Lithuania – the third-placed teams are already in the final World Cup play-offs in mid-May.
A close battle in a tight game
The ÖHB team started the game well with aggressive defense, resulting in a 2-0 lead. The first goal against them did not come until the 6th minute. But the Serbian defense and goalkeeper Dejan Milosavljev also showed their quality. After ten minutes, the score was just 3-3. A two-minute penalty against Lukas Herburger put Serbia 5-3 ahead. But Romero's team kept at it and managed to regain a two-goal lead at 9-7 and 10-8.
However, the Austrians failed to capitalize on a double power play due to inaccuracies in their finishing and a strong Milosavljev, allowing their opponents to regain the upper hand and go into the break with a 12-13 lead. The second half remained close, with the battle of attrition continuing. Neither team managed to pull away. Lukas Hutecek and Co. took a two-goal lead for the first time at 22:20, partly because pivot Tobias Wagner was getting better and better and goalkeeper Constantin Möstl made some strong saves.
Four-goal lead needed for promotion
Austria survived a period of numerical inferiority unscathed, then took advantage of a double power play of their own to take a three-goal lead (23:20) for the first time. Sebastian Frimmel and Hutecek each missed the chance to make it plus four – the lead needed for promotion. The ÖHB aces did not let the victory slip away, amid the frenetic cheering of many German fans – Germany, for its part, was hoping for help from its neighbor. However, the margin of victory was not high enough, partly because Mykola Bilyk missed a seven-meter throw in the final minute with the score at 26:24.
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