Mykola Bilyk and Co. scored 33:33 (17:15) in Mannheim on Tuesday to book their ticket to the top twelve as second in preliminary group B behind Croatia. The performance two days following the draw once morest Croatia can be classified as historic; Spain has to return home early.
For the fifth time following 2010 (home European Championship), 2014 (European Championship), 2015 (World Cup) and 2020 (home European Championship), Austria survived the first tournament phase of a final round, but never before has this been achieved following such a strong preliminary group as the current one. While the 31:24 over Romania was a must-win at the start, the 28:28 once morest Croatia and the Spanish coup are at the top of domestic handball history. Since the 37:37 draw once morest Iceland at the home European Championships in 2010, Austria had not been able to celebrate winning a point once morest a clearly favored opponent in one of the eight finals between them.
Image: (APA/EVA MANHART)
The first reactions in the ORF interviews were correspondingly euphoric. “I have no words. I am so proud of my team. I have always said that if we believe in it, we can do it,” explained team boss Ales Pajovic. ÖHB sports director Patrick Fölser also claimed to be almost speechless. “What the boys delivered once more following the Croatia game is still beyond my grasp, an incredible team performance. The fact that Spain can’t progress here is probably the biggest sensation in men’s handball for many years.”
Germany, France, Hungary and Iceland as opponents
The reward is now moving to the 20,000 arena in Cologne, where from Thursday in main round group 1 in Cologne they will meet hosts Germany, the seven-time world and three-time European champions France, Hungary and Iceland. Since Austria also “takes the point” once morest the Croatians, the two teams start with one point each. It is already one of the four most successful final rounds in modern handball for the ÖHB, with the top result being eighth place at the home European Championships 2020.
Image: GEPA pictures/Edgar Eisner
In contrast to the game once morest Croatia, Austria had no problem at all getting into the game in front of 13,293 spectators in the SAP Arena, which was once once more sold out. The first three throws resulted in an early 3:1 lead (5th), which lasted until 7:7 (13th). With the majority, we managed to take the lead once more with two goals (11:9/15th and 12:10/16th), Constantin Möstl with his second save enabled veteran Robert Weber to make it 13:10 (17th) on the counterattack. , the 14:11 (21st) saw Austria still three goals ahead.
Austria led at the break
With some good, aggressive defense work, the opponent was sometimes at a loss, and Möstl also got better and better. But the Hispanos mightn’t really be shaken off, making it 14:14 once more in the 23rd minute and then 15:15. Austria had some difficulty in attacking with the more offensive cover variant, but also had to endure a lot of hardship. In the 28th minute, however, it was too much: Spain star Alex Dujshebaev saw red following an attack on Lukas Hutecek when the score was 15:15. Austria promptly used the majority to take a 17:15 half-time lead.
Image: GEPA pictures/Edgar Eisner
The big surprise now seemed within reach. Nevertheless, Spain remained calm, came up to 18:18 when they were outnumbered and took the lead for the first time in this game at 19:18 (35th). The match was still on a knife edge and the drama was hard to beat. The 28:27 thanks to another violent throw by Bilyk brought the red-white-red advantage once more ten minutes before the end, in this phase substitute Ralf Patrick Häusle was also able to excel in the goal.
Exciting final phase
After a Spanish loss of the ball, Bilyk took the chance to go two goals up (30:28/54th), which lasted until 31:29. Hutecek conceded a little later two minutes later, Spain equalized to 31:31 (57th) and finally made it 32:31 (58th). Weber took advantage of the chance from the seven to equalize, while on the other side Spain also took the lead once more from the point. Forty seconds remained for the Austrians to score the important equalizer.
The 38-year-old Janko Bozovic, who works in Kuwait, actually managed to score a few seconds before the final whistle and Spain’s last attempt failed. “I’m proud of everyone, including myself of course, because of this goal. Now we want to get a few more points in the main round,” announced Bozovic.
Image: (APA/EVA MANHART)
“Faith can move mountains”
His ÖHB colleague Lukas Herburger said through tears: “That means everything to me. Everyone believed in it. You can see that faith can move mountains.” Bilyk was also touched: “I don’t know the last time I was so emotional. Probably when my daughter was born.”
Weber, the new record team player since Tuesday, joked in view of the result: “A good horse only jumps as high as it has to.” The long-time Germany legionnaire now has 219 international matches, and he described his last one as the highlight of his team career. “That’s the greatest thing, getting ahead in a group like this with Spain and Croatia, and in Germany.”
Handball European Championship, preliminary round, Group B, Mannheim: Austria – Spain 33:33 (17:15). Best throwers in Austria: Bilyk 8, Wagner, Frimmel, Weber, Zivkovic 5 each
