2023-05-10 17:49:27
Austria’s men’s national handball team was drawn to tough opponents for the preliminary round of the European Championship in January 2024 on Wednesday. Group B in Mannheim will face vice European champions Spain, Croatia and Romania, according to the draw in Düsseldorf. Croatia was nominally the strongest opponent from the third pot. The ÖHB selection needs the first or second place in the group to make it into the main round.
In Mannheim, the game will be played in the SAP Arena, which offers space for almost 15,000 people. Austria starts against Romania on January 12th, the ÖHB selection had recently celebrated two victories in the European Championship qualifier against the south-eastern Europeans. On January 14th it’s against Croatia and finally on January 16th against pool favorites Spain.
The last time they faced the Iberians was in the main round at the home EURO 2020, after a hard fight they had to bow 26:30 in the Wiener Stadthalle. But there was a 29:28 to cheer for the debut of team boss Ales Pajovic on April 11, 2019 in Dornbirn. The last meeting with Croatia also came from the home EURO. Croatia also prevailed in the main round with 27:23.
“That’s not necessarily my dream group,” said Pajovic. The Slovene sees Croatia “along with Spain as favorites in our group. Our goal is still to get through. That definitely requires a win at the start against Romania. That won’t be easy either.” He put the chances at “50:50”.
The 24 teams are divided into six preliminary round groups. The first two teams in each group move into the main round, the points from the direct encounters are taken with them. The main round group I will be held in Cologne, group II in Hamburg. If Austria manages to advance, they would move to Cologne, where they would meet the top two from groups A, C and D.
The first two teams of the two main round groups reach the semi-finals. The finals will take place in Cologne. Germany will play their opening game at Düsseldorf’s Merkur Arena – possibly in front of a record crowd of 50,000 fans – on January 10 against Switzerland.
sport/mixed/73141520.xml"/> 1683743497
#ÖHB #team #preliminary #European #Championships #Mannheim #Spain #Croatia