For the first time at this World Cup, Austria was able to play with 16 players after Nina Neidhart and Katarina Pandza returned from the CoV quarantine. Inspired by this, the ÖHB team started extremely motivated and pulled away gate by gate. Above all, the cover and goalkeeper Lena Ivancok contributed to the fact that the front with a good throw rate after 23 minutes had set off by seven goals for the first time (12: 5).
The 15:10 break lead was also quite comfortable, but motivated the Croatians to start a small offensive after the restart. The opponents did not come closer than four goals for the time being, at 19:12 (39th) everything seemed to be going well. And yet it was again tight, Croatia came up to 21:24 in the 55th minute, Neidhart also saw the red card. Ivancok finally became the match winner with a seventh saved – Austria finally managed to make ends meet.
Austria defeats Croatia
Austria’s national handball team said goodbye to the World Cup in Spain with a victory. The ÖHB selection defeated Croatia on Sunday in Torrevieja with 27:23.
Deserved win after an almost perfect first half
“The first half was almost perfect,” enthused “substitute coach” Helfried Müller. “Of course you could already see that the whole thing took a lot of strength, it wasn’t so fluid anymore. But the victory was well deserved. It’s really, really great what the team has achieved over the entire tournament, ”said the German, who stood in for his brother Herbert Müller.
Austria will finish the World Cup in 13th to 16th place, depending on the last games in the other groups. In a total of six games, including the preliminary round, there were two wins, the first succeeded in the first game against China. There were also narrow defeats against Argentina (29:31) and Japan (30:32), only against Brazil (31:38) and Spain (19:31) they had no chance.
Coronavirus as a constant companion of the World Cup
In view of the difficult circumstances, however, it is a respectable placement: Herbert Müller, his assistant Erwin Gierlinger and Pandza, three members of the ÖHB delegation, were unable to travel to the start of the tournament because of Covid-19. Then the “free tested” Pandza was allowed to follow suit, two hours before the first game, Petra Blazek, Sonja Frey, Stefanie Kaiser and Nina Neidhart received the news of positive CoV findings. Every day was marked by hope and fear for the team, more players were added, and several players had to be nominated again.
“Of course we started with a lot of hopes and big goals, also because of the draw,” said ÖHB General Secretary Bernd Rabenseifner. “The team achieved the main goal of the main round despite the many failures. You also saw that we were absolutely competitive despite the many failures against really good teams. ”Rabenseifner didn’t want to think about what would have been possible with a full squad. “Of course you quarrel a little because against Argentina and Japan one point or the other would have been possible,” said the Lower Austrian.
Encouragement for home EM 2024
On the way to the home European championship in 2024, however, what was offered was encouraging. Precisely because some players were given more playing time and responsibility. “We have a positive outlook on what the players who could play can achieve,” said Rabenseifner.
For now, however, you had to worry less about the next major events than about the journey home. “We hope to bring as many as possible who are still in quarantine home with the team,” said Rabenseifner. After all, coach Herbert Müller and Gierlinger, who could only watch the World Cup from the hotel quarantine in Austria, were able to return to their own home.
