The Norwegians, who had clearly dispatched Greenland 43:11 in the first game, had the reins firmly in their hands against Austria. The currently best national team in the world started relatively slowly and allowed the Austrians to keep up until 8:7. But of the ten goals that followed, nine were scored by the Scandinavians; Austria had nothing left to counter the Norwegians.
The hosts also showed great enthusiasm in the finish and – led by ten-time goalscorer Henny Ella Reistad – ultimately inflicted one of the heaviest World Cup defeats on the ÖHB team. As expected, the Norwegians are already in the main round of the home World Cup, which is being held together with Denmark and Sweden, after just two games. Austria’s record against Norway is eight wins, two draws and 21 defeats.
Handball World Cup
Schedule and tables
“Flaws exploited mercilessly”
“It was an avalanche that overwhelmed us. It was clear to us that they were taking us seriously after our opening win. They came upon us with a flurry of attacks. We didn’t manage enough to disrupt the offensive. “They often made free throws and mercilessly exploited our mistakes on the counterattack,” team boss Müller said in an ORF interview, taking his hat off to the Norwegians, who were superior in all respects.
The German praised some of his team’s actions, but saw some room for improvement. “I liked our actions, but we have to close the gaps in coverage. I’m not dissatisfied with the attack behavior, but we have to minimize the technical errors. We have to get this under control. We fought, but in the end it was clear what was going to happen today,” said Müller.
Main circuit within reach
Ines Ivancok, the best red-white-red thrower with six goals, also recognized the class difference straight away. “They have tempo and can throw from any position from the backcourt. We knew what was coming, but we couldn’t close the gaps defensively. The Norwegians are huge. “Half-hearted attacks are not enough,” said the 25-year-old.
Thanks to the 30:29 at the start on Wednesday against South Korea, Austria is also on track despite the defeat against Norway. Promotion to the main round can be confirmed again on Sunday in Stavanger against outsiders Greenland. The Greenlanders suffered their second defeat of the tournament on Friday with a 16:27 defeat against South Korea. “We have to win against Greenland if we want to progress. But we can handle the pressure,” said Ivancok.
Handball World Cup 2023, Group C
Freitag
Austria – Norway 25:48 (12:21)
Stavanger
Tore Osterreich: Ivancok 6, Sabatnig 5, Panda A. 4, Panda K. 3, Reichert 3, Frey 2, Huber 2, Wess 2, Kovacs
South Korea – Greenland 27:16 (15:6)
Stavanger
Table: 1. Norway 2 2 0 0 88:39 4 2. South Korea 2 1 0 1 56:46 2 3.
Austria
2 1 0 1 58:74 2 4. Greenland 2 0 0 2 27:70 0
