Handball European Championship 2024
Austria’s handball players are on fire: The duel against Germany is special – especially now
This is what winners look like: The Austrian handball players Nykola Bilyk, Sebastian Frimmel, Lukas Hutecek and Robert Weber (from left to right) celebrate the victory against Hungary at the European Handball Championship
© Ina Fassbender / AFP
The Austrian handball players are the surprise team at the European Handball Championship, and the whole homeland is now excited. Now the duel against Germany is coming up. For both teams it’s everything.
The Austrian national handball team’s record against its German neighbors is disastrous. 37 duels have taken place so far, the DHB team has won 32 times, Austria has three wins and two draws. But: The Austrians have never faced them in a competitive game Germany won.
But that should change on Saturday evening in the Lanxess Arena in Cologne (8.30 p.m./ARD), because it looks like the balance of power has changed: The Austrian team around playmaker Nikola Bilyk, previously in the “Handball Dwarf” category , flies through the tournament. A win against Romania and a draw against the top teams from Spain and Croatia secured a place in the main round, where in the first game there was a narrow win against Hungary, also a medium heavyweight in international handball.
Austrian media celebrate their handball European Championship heroes
Now the enemy is Germany. If Austria managed a victory, the door to the European Championship semi-finals would be wide open. A jump into the top four would be the greatest success in the history of Austrian handball. At the moment, national coach Ales Pajovic’s team is in second place in the main round behind France and ahead of the DHB selection. They finished in 20th place at the 2022 European Championships, missed the 2023 World Cup completely, and the team has never taken part in the Olympics.
Your big advantage in 2024: The Austrians are not only being carried by their own wave of success, but have also caused enormous euphoria at home. The television jumped up, ORF 1 is now broadcasting all four main round games. The media reports extensively and celebrates their handball heroes. This is quite unusual in Austria, the most popular sports are by far football and alpine skiing. Handball has a niche existence.
That has changed – at least for the moment. The duel against the Germans comes at just the right time. “I’m extremely happy,” said Captain Bilyk, who earns his money at THW Kiel. He is the linchpin of the national team and captain. With the Kiel team he won the German championship three times and the Champions League once. For him it was “a very, very special game.” There is “nothing better than playing handball against the host here in Cologne in front of a full hall.” The backcourt star expects nothing less than “absolute hell”; he sees it “almost as a privilege” to be part of the test of strength.
Motivated right down to the tips of your hair
Other members of the team include Lukas Hutecek from the Bundesliga club TBV Lemgo, Sebastian Frimmel, who plays for the Hungarian top club Pick Szeged, and oldie Robert Weber, who played for SC Magdeburg for many years and is one of the five most successful goalscorers in the Bundesliga. He has now returned home and plays for HSG Bärnbach/Köflach in Styria. Coach Ales Pajovic also gained a lot of experience as a professional in Germany, including in Kiel. “They have become a good team,” said German national coach Alfred Gislason, who incidentally knows Bilyk very well. He trained him for three years in Kiel.
One thing is certain: As outsiders, the Austrians are motivated to the core. “We will not freeze in awe,” announced Weber. So the Germans have been warned. If they want to keep their chance of reaching the semi-finals, they have to win. The pressure is clearly on the hosts, the little brother can play in a relaxed manner.
Sources: DPA,”Sports show“, “Southgerman newspaper“, “The standard“