Handball – Austria ends the World Cup successfully
Austria’s handball women’s national team with 16 players was able to compete for the first time at this World Cup – shortly before the start of the final game against Croatia, the IHF gave the green light for Nina Neidhart and Katarina Pandza to play. Against the third of EURO 2020, all forces were mobilized again and with success! At halftime Austria was leading 15:10, meanwhile increased this lead to seven goals and prevailed at 27:23 in the end. The small table with Croatia and Argentina shows the best goal difference, thus fourth place in the main round group 4 and ending the 2021 World Cup in Spain among the top 16 in the world.
Austria won’t let Croatia in
Lena Ivancok presented herself in top form in goal, the cover was stable and in the attack Kovacs, Pandza, Neidhart and Ines Ivancok constantly creates danger. After 10:41 minutes, you set yourself down at 7: 2, and were ahead at 15:10 at the break. Even after changing sides, Croatia was kept at a constant distance with five goals, and in the 39th minute they even moved away for the first time with seven goals at 19:12. In a turbulent final phase, in which they lost Nina Neidhart after her third two-minute penalty with red, Croatia came up again to three goals. The Austrians kept their nerve, were able to put 1:30 before the end of the game through Patricia Kovacs to 26:21 and in the end deservedly won the game with 27:23.
Mini-table speaks for Austria
This means that Croatia, Argentina and Austria hold two points each. In the small table, Austria and Croatia hold the goal difference at plus 2, but Austria scored more goals in total, which puts them in 4th place in the main round group 4 and ends the World Cup in the top 16. The final World Cup placement is still pending.
Voices for the game
Lena Ivancok: “What a game. I am happy with how the game went. It’s great that some players were allowed to get out of quarantine. That gave us additional motivation. Thanks to the good coverage I was able to parry some important throws. This game was important for our confidence. We go out of here with pride and a big heart. It was like it was with all the corona cases. Those who were allowed to die gave everything and also showed what we can. It was a good game for all of us. We knew how strong Croatia is and that we can expect strong coverage. “
Helfried Müller, Team Principal: “An outstanding performance in the first half paved the way for us. You could see the quality Katarina Pandza and Nina Neidhart bring back into the team. One of the keys to success today was definitely Lena Ivancok, who partially closed the gate in decisive moments that brought Big Points. In the middle of the second half you could already see that we were running out of gas. We left one or two chances behind, but Croatia was still well under control in cover. We have Never let them come to the dangerous region, so we deserved to win in the end. “