Handball
Austria’s men’s national handball team was drawn to tough opponents for the preliminary round of the European Championship in January 2024 on Wednesday. Group B in Mannheim will face vice European champions Spain, Croatia and Romania, according to the draw in Düsseldorf. Croatia was nominally the strongest opponent from the third pot. The ÖHB selection needs the first or second place in the group to make it into the main round.
In Mannheim, the game is played in the SAP Arena, which offers space for 15,000 people. Austria starts against Romania on January 12th, the ÖHB selection had recently celebrated two victories in the European Championship qualifier against the south-eastern Europeans. On January 14th it’s against Croatia and finally on January 16th against pool favorites Spain.
The 24 teams are divided into six preliminary round groups. The first two teams in each group move into the main round, the points from the direct encounters are taken with them. The main round group I will be held in Cologne, group II in Hamburg.
Hammerless for ÖHB team at EM
Austria’s men’s national handball team was drawn to tough opponents for the preliminary round of the European Championship in January 2024 on Wednesday.
If Austria manages to advance, they would move to Cologne, where they would meet the top two from groups A, C and D. The first two of the two main round groups reach the semi-finals. The finals will take place in Cologne. Germany will play the opener against Switzerland on January 10th in Düsseldorf’s Merkur Arena – possibly in front of a record crowd of 50,000 fans.
“Not necessarily my dream group”
“That’s not necessarily my dream group. We don’t need to talk much about Spain. I see her as a favorite in our group who is also fighting for the medals. Nevertheless, those were always good games from us. Even if Croatia didn’t play such a good qualifier this year, they have a broad squad with absolute top players, all of whom are involved with top clubs. It’s going to be a tough game and I see Croatia as a favorite in our group alongside Spain,” explained ÖHB team boss Ales Pajovic.
“But our goal is to get ahead. For that, you definitely need a win at the start against Romania. That won’t be easy either. I see the odds at 50/50. We’re on a big break now. We’ll start preparing in the fall,” says the Slovenian.
The last time you faced the Spaniards was in the main round at the home European Championship 2020, at that time you had to bow 26:30 in the Wiener Stadthalle after a hard fight. But there was a 29:28 to cheer for the debut of team boss Ales Pajovic on April 11, 2019 in Dornbirn. The last duel with Croatia also comes from the home European Championship. Croatia prevailed in the main round with 27:23.
