On Sunday, Mykola Bilyk and Co. had to admit defeat to host Germany in the decisive game in Hanover with 31:34 (15:18). As third in Group 2, the ÖHB selection missed out on one of the top two places and thus the ticket to Paris. With the result, however, the Germans secured a place in the Olympic tournament.
Against the home team, who were under heavy pressure, a solid, sometimes strong performance in the ZAG Arena, which was packed with over 10,000 spectators, was not enough to achieve the necessary victory, which would have been only the fourth ever in the 56th duel. The defense in particular, which was a showpiece in the historic eighth place at the European Championships in January, was not entirely convincing this time. There was no revenge for the 22:22 once morest the neighbors during the European Championship.
“That hurts,” said team boss Ales Pajovic. “If we lose by ten goals, I won’t say anything, but like that… We played in front of 10,000 fans in Germany, they were favorites. We had our chance, but unfortunately we mightn’t take it. A few mistakes here, a few there “The goalkeeper performance wasn’t quite right either,” said the Slovenian. “But I’m proud of the team, the will and character they showed.”
Bilyk expressed similar disappointment. “It hurts extremely. We really wanted to fulfill this huge dream,” explained the Kiel legionnaire regarding the historic goal of being the first Austrian men’s team to make it to the Olympics since 1952. “You might see that we gave everything until the last moment, but unfortunately it wasn’t enough.”
Austria got off to an optimal start
Austria got off to an optimal 2-0 start thanks to goals from Bilyk and Sebastian Frimmel, but found themselves trailing 2-3 following a 3-0 run by Germany. By the tenth minute, the hosts had increased their lead to 7:4, but the red-white-red team worked their way back to minus-1.
Despite a few mistakes and visible nervousness, Germany mostly stayed in front with one or two goals and was also able to rely on goalie Andreas Wolff. Austria’s defense, however, barely managed to survive a DHB attack without conceding a goal. In a heated, fast-paced duel, both sides were awarded several two-minute penalties.
Austria’s first save in the first half by youngster Leon Bergmann when the score was 11:13 (23rd) came in an important phase in which Austria – with manageable success – relied on the 7:6 power play. With another three successful actions, the Fivers player, who replaced European Championship hero Constantin Möstl following around 20 minutes in his third A international match, kept Austria in the game. Despite an 18:13 lead (28th minute), the half-time deficit of three goals remained bearable.
Wasted chance to connect
At the start of the second half, Austria survived a phase of being outnumbered unscathed, but carelessly missed the chance to get to minus-1 and, despite the subsequent majority, were behind by four goals (36th). After another save by Germany’s two-man goalkeeper David Späth and a seven-meter penalty by Sebastian Frimmel, Germany made a small preliminary decision with the score 23:18 (39th).
Austria kept trying, oldie Janko Bozovic in particular impressed with several goals. However, the ÖHB team never found the self-evidence that made several surprises possible at the European Championships. Three saves from the returning Möstl gave Austria every chance before the final twelve minutes when the score was 24:27.
It was possible to shorten the score to minus 2 several times (51st, 53rd, 55th, 58th). As was the case at the European Championships, the neighboring duel became a battle of nerves at the end, in which there would still have been opportunities. Germany’s goal to make it 32:29 just under a minute before the end meant the Olympic dream was finally shattered.
