Handball: Austria is subject to Denmark in EM qualifiers
handball
Austria’s women’s national handball team clearly lost the European Championship qualifier in Graz on Wednesday evening against the still undefeated Danes by 22:38 (11:21). This means that on Sunday (5 p.m., live on ORF Sport+) in Valcea there will be a decider between Romania and Austria for second place.
The ÖHB selection of team boss Herbert Müller has to win away to make it to the finals of the European Championship. The first leg in autumn in Südstadt ended in a draw, with both teams currently holding five points each. Romania defeated the Faroe Islands 31:21 (13:11) on Wednesday.
Not only due to the absence of top performers such as Josefine Huber, Mirela Dedic, Ines Ivancok and Vanessa Magg, Austria was a clear outsider in the game against the 1997 world champion, multiple European champion and Olympic champion Denmark. Despite their committed performance, Sonja Frey and Co. could not do much against the superior guests on the field, who continued to pull away after the relatively first ten minutes and finally celebrated their fifth win in five games. The Danes had already bought their EM ticket after the fourth match.
Austria keeps up for a long time after the break
In the second half, in front of 1,100 spectators, the hosts kept the ten-goal deficit constant for a long time. In the end, team boss Müller also gave the following players their chance, including the debutants Santina Sabatnig, Ana Pandza and Lisa Spalt. Only in the finish did the Danes manage to extend the gap further.
“In terms of the result, it was secondary today that we lost, that was clear. We missed far too many clear chances in the first half and actually only had very little access in defense for over 60 minutes,” said Müller. “I’m satisfied with the first quarter of an hour in the second half. But then I also had to conserve energy. The boys then played wildly from the soul. The result seems too high but I can say the girls will stand up against Romania and do their best.”