Austria’s handball players defeated Algeria in Olympic qualification

Two days after the opening defeat against Croatia, Mykola Bilyk and Co. won confidently against Algeria with 41:26 (20:13) on Saturday and now have their hoped-for final against hosts Germany on Sunday (2:10 p.m./live ORF 1). He had previously helped the Croatians to qualify successfully with a 30:33 defeat.

• Also read: “We don’t want to be a flash in the pan”

This brings back memories of the most recent European Championship in January, also in Germany, when Austria wrested a 22:22 from the home team, but missed out on a victory in the end, which probably cost them an even better final result. The eighth-placed team in the European Championship now has to make up for this win on Sunday; a draw would not be enough due to the fewer goals scored with the same goal difference.

“We wanted the final against Germany. We have all the trump cards in our hands tomorrow to win this game,” said pivot Tobias Wagner. “The draw from the European Championships still hurts a bit, we want to forget that.” Ales Pajovic was similarly pleased. “The boys believe in it,” said the team boss, who was able to rest numerous players during the game. “They made very good use of their opportunity.”

Tension only in the opening minutes

It was only exciting in the opening minutes against Algeria at the ZAG Arena. Despite a not flawless start, Austria had the reins firmly in hand from the first lead, 3-2 in the fifth minute. The game was actually over after the 8:3 (10th) at the latest, even if Africa’s runner-up sniffed the score back to 7:9 (15th). Lukas Hutecek’s team picked up the pace again, were in the lead with six goals for the first time three minutes later and from then on they didn’t allow their opponents to gain any decisive leverage.

Pajovic made a substitution before the break to ensure the shortest possible recovery time, while Markus Mahr gained more experience in the backcourt, as did Eric Damböck and Jakob Nigg on the wing. It was the latter who increased the score to plus 7 for the first time with the final whistle of the first half.

After the restart, Austria also successfully practiced the 7:6 power play. The gap remained constant for the time being because Algeria kept scoring easy goals. The North Africans, who were defeated by Germany 29:41 at the start, were miles away from a turnaround. It was only in the finish that the Algerian resistance came to a standstill and the ÖHB selection continued to expand their plus account goal by goal with many bench players. It was almost enough to overtake Germany in terms of goal difference, but a few seconds before the end they conceded the decisive goal in this regard. “We knew that in the end, but it doesn’t matter at all. We’re playing for a win and not a draw anyway,” emphasized wing Sebastian Frimmel, the best ÖHB thrower with 8 goals.

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