Despite the last disappointment, team captain Ales Bajovic made an early positive decision. “We tried everything and had a chance to take the lead in the last few minutes. But respect to my team, they gave everything,” emphasized the Slovenian in an ORF interview.
Thanks to the recovery of defense captain Lukas Herberger, Austria were able to play with a full squad, while Iceland had to do without injured playmaker Gisli Kristjansson. However, the Red-White-Red got off to a weak start with several missed throws and had only Konstantin Mastel to thank for not trailing more than 2:4 (8th). Kohli, who saved eight attempts in the first quarter of an hour alone, gave his team the lead for the first time in the 14th minute (5:4).
But it was quickly gone again, and ÖHB, who have lost six tough games so far, continue to struggle up front and fall behind. Iceland changed it to 8:6 (20th) and 10:8 (24th) and increased to plus-3 for the first time in the 26th minute or, after several significant technical errors by two Austrians, plus-5 (13: 8/28th)..). 7:6 The powerplay was not so lucky this time either; The Icelanders' six-goal lead at halftime seemed like a small preliminary result.
But again Austria showed a fighting spirit, preventing the Icelanders from playing quickly and coming within 14:15 (37th) with a 6:1 run. Möstl continued to do well, allowing Tobias Wagner, who had previously been denied twice, to equalize at 15:15 (41'). Iceland looked completely out of control and Weber managed to take the lead at 16:15 with a seven meter shot (43').
The game was on a knife edge until the end, with no sign of the Icelanders' two-goal lead (22:20/54.). In a dramatic finale, the initial result was only a score of 26:24 for Iceland. Austria, outnumbered, could not get any closer.
After the second loss in a row, Wagner was exhausted. “Of course we are disappointed that things turned out this way. The first half was very bad in the whole tournament, but we can be satisfied with the fight in the second half.” The circle runner was criticized by the audience in Cologne. “It's a shame that the German audience didn't appreciate our performance and didn't cheer us on – maybe they knew they had more luck than they felt against us,” Wagner said on ORF. Germany saved a 22:22 draw against the Austrians on Saturday.
Handball European Championship, main round, 4th round: Austria – Iceland 24:26 (8:14). Best bowlers AUT: Wagner 7, Weber 5, Bilic 4
