Handball European Championships
Germany against Austria for Merten’s “beautiful classic”
Looking forward to the duel with Austria: Lukas Mertens. photo
© Sören Stache/dpa
In football, games between Germany and Austria are particularly explosive. The duel is also becoming a classic in handball.
For left winger Lukas Mertens, games against the neighbors are over Austria also has a certain explosiveness in handball.
“I’m up for it. It’s always a nice classic. Maybe not quite as important as in football, but the trend is going that way,” said the DHB professional before the prestigious duel in the evening (8.30 p.m./ARD and Dyn ).
The previously undefeated ÖHB selection is the surprise team at this European Championship in Germany. After the win against Hungary at the start of the main round, coach Ales Pajovic’s team is even ahead of the Germans in the table, who are currently in fourth place. Only the two best teams qualify for the semi-finals.
“Austria has earned a lot of respect,” said Mertens about the successful run of their upcoming opponents. The Austrians had wrested a draw from co-favorites Spain in the preliminary round and were thus eliminated from the tournament. The team around Kiel backcourt ace Mykola Bilyk also fought for a draw against the strong Croatians.