22:39 defeat

ÖHB women also lose 2nd match against Norway

Monique Tijsterman

(Bild: GEPA pictures)

Austria's national women's handball team has also clearly lost its second match under new team manager Monique Tijsterman. The ÖHB team had no chance against the world-class team from Norway on Sunday and lost 22:39 (8:19) in Innsbruck. The defeat against the reigning runners-up in the World and European Championships was thus slightly smaller than on Wednesday in Halden (22:43).

"We said beforehand that we should try to do in the game what we do in training. It works, but it's not enough. We need some patience," said Tijsterman in an ORF TV interview after her first home game. "We didn't manage to get into the gaps in attack again. You can't score 39 goals at home, that's far too many," was Josefine Hanfland's self-criticism.

Fast attacks
Just like four days ago, the experienced Norwegians showed their class right from the start and were 9:2 ahead after 14 minutes after scoring seven goals in a row. While the Scandinavians finished off their fast attacks consistently, the hosts made too many technical errors.

This initially continued after the break. From the middle of the second half, however, Tijsterman's team adapted better to the Norwegians and were able to score more often. Nine months before the home European Championship (November 28 to December 15), however, they ended up with their fourth defeat in their fourth EHF EURO Cup match, as expected. "You could see that there is a big gap between us and Norway and the world's best. We definitely need to work more on our fitness and strength. That's a big problem for us," explained playmaker Sonja Frey.