The Hungarian team will meet hosts Germany today at 8:30 p.m.Continue reading
The Hungarian men’s handball team lost 35-28 to host Germany in the third round of the European Olympic qualification semi-finals in Cologne on Monday, but still has a mathematical chance of reaching the final four.
The defeat means that Hungary can only reach the last four if they beat group winners France on Wednesday, while Germany lose to Croatia and Austria fails to beat Iceland.
The Hungarian team, progressing from the Munich group stage with a 100% record, lost to Austria in the semi-finals, but beat Croatia to reach the last ten and will face the defending Olympic champions on Wednesday at 6 p.m.
The first seven minutes were great from a Hungarian point of view, the players were focused in attack and defense, and they led by two goals. But after that, mistakes followed, which the home team took advantage of and equalized. The two teams went head to head, the Hungarians started to make mistakes again after good defending, so at the break the hosts were one goal up.
As badly as the first half ended, the second half started with the opponent pulling away to 20-17. There was a lack of wing play on offense, and with the German’s excellent defense, there was little chance for penetration. Captain José María Rodríguez Vaquero took his last time-out opportunity in the 49th minute, but there was no turning back from a six-goal deficit, and the Germans, who had gained momentum, could not be held back.
The Hungarian defeat means France have won their group and will face defending champions Sweden in Friday’s semi-final.
“In the second half we had a lot of problems defensively because we were given a very difficult task by the Germans, they have a great team. Unfortunately, after the break we could not compete with the home team, although our players did their best,” said the Hungarian coach at the post-match press conference.
He added that the attacking play was good in the first half, but the defense was not working properly even then, and later they were not successful in front of the opponent’s goal. They tried different line-ups, but they could not win one-on-one and two-on-two situations.
The most important thing is for the boys to find themselves, their motivation to come back, because they came to this game with a lot of motivation, they wanted to make history. But there is no time to be downcast, we have to get over this and get going against France,”
Rodríguez said.
Standings:
The top two finishers in each group will advance to the semi-finals, while the third-placed teams will play for fifth place.
The winner of the European Championship – or the best team not yet qualified – will qualify for the summer Olympics in Paris. The next two best teams which have not yet qualified will be able to take part in the qualification tournament in March, in which the Hungarian team has already secured its place.
Via MTI, Featured image: MTI/Czeglédi Zsolt