Austria's men's national handball team lost in the last test before the upcoming European Championship finals in Germany.
Ales Pajovic's team's performance was excellent for a long time against Iceland on Monday evening in Linz, 30:37 (16:16), the team only finished sixth in the last quarter of an hour. The 2022 European Championship finally took a clear lead. For Austria, the European Championship begins on Friday, when the match against Romania begins.
“I'm happy with the game. We played against Iceland, they could be in the top 5 in the world. But at the end we ran out of energy, that's a problem with our (team) width,” said Pajovic. ORF interview after the final whistle. The Slovenian was optimistic about the start of the finals: “If we go like this against Romania, we'll get two points. That's the goal.”
Two days after a 28:33 defeat in the first Test against Iceland in Schwechat, the Northerners got off to a great start again. Austria had problems in the opening minutes due to technical errors, but played better and better.
Constantin Mostl started in goal and would form the goalkeeper team in Germany along with Hart keeper Ralf Patrick Hausle. Both were preferred over Thomas Eichberger, the ÖHB announced before the game.
Lukas Hudcek, who played strongly, rewarded progress and better defensive work compared to last Saturday with a draw of 11:11 (22nd), after which the game continued at eye level.
In the final seconds of the first half, the Icelanders tied the score at 16:16. Circular Tobias Wagner was happy, but declared in the second half: “We will still try, it is still a preparation game.”
Iceland got off to a great start again as they led by three goals. Häusle was now also used in Austrian goal. Mykola Bilic and co. They managed to equalize early on, but Moritz Mittendorfer later had to leave the field with a red card.
The Icelanders then exploited the weaknesses of the red-white-reds very efficiently, and the guests now had a better grip on the attacking game of the Austrians, who no longer looked completely new.
The conclusion was clear. “It was actually a very good game for us. The result is clearer than the game, we were fully in it until the 45th minute,” Hutecek said.
The German legionnaire was top scorer on home soil with ten goals. Sebastian Frimmel scored five goals.
