Marco Rossi: “I’m incredibly proud of this team”

Tuesday afternoon, 12:36 p.m. in the Czech capital Prague. 197 kilometers by car from the Wullowitz border crossing, in an ice rink filled with 16,306 fans, “Again and again, again and again, again Austria” is sung. Goosebumps for the more than 1,000 fans of Team Austria who had traveled with them. The game on the ice against Great Britain did not live up to the euphoria and atmosphere. Team Austria lost 2:4 and missed the historic chance to reach the quarter-finals – for the first time since the 1994 World Cup 30 years ago.

• Read more: Austria’s ice hockey team lost to relegated Great Britain 2:4 and was eliminated

Austria’s NHL star Marco Rossi was self-critical in the catacombs of the O2 Arena after the game, although the ÖEHV team’s performance throughout the tournament was something to be proud of.

OÖN: Mr. Rossi, why didn’t we win in the last group game against Great Britain?

Marco Rossi: Good question. We are very, very disappointed. We played a great World Cup before, but this game just didn’t go that way. I don’t think we played that badly in the first third. We had chances, but we got impatient. I don’t know why that was. We knew we would get our chances. But if you make stupid mistakes at this level, it doesn’t matter whether you’re playing against Canada or Great Britain, they will be punished.

Did you perhaps put too much pressure on yourself because there was a great chance of reaching the quarter-finals?

That is hard to say. I think we were mentally very well prepared for the game. We knew they would come hard, that they had nothing to lose. And of course it is very, very bitter and we are very disappointed that it turned out this way. But we still have to be very proud of our team. I’m incredibly proud of this team, we did a great job. We must not be too negative or let our heads down. We can leave this tournament with a strong heart and believe in ourselves in the future.

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