Handball: The Spanish influence should blossom

With Romero, the Spanish component of handball also found its way into the national team. Especially when it comes to coverage, they now act a little differently, and Romero rotates his personnel a lot more in the game than his predecessor Pajovic. In the first two European Championship games, young talents like Nigg, Mahr and Kofler were given a lot of minutes and the opportunity to prove themselves.

ÖHB sports director Patrick Fölser: “It always takes a good mix. Five or six players who make up the core, and the others have to know what is required of them.” For Fölser, it’s not just about this current tournament, but about a positive medium-term future in which the team develops and perhaps reaches a higher level.

More stability

“It’s about little things. We’re between 8th and 10th place in Europe, so the air is getting thin.” Above all, stability is a constant issue for Austrians. Due to the lack of quality compared to the top nations, you have to compensate for the disadvantage with a perfectly functioning collective. In order to annoy and defeat big teams, you need an almost perfect game, both offensively and defensively, for 60 minutes.

Against Germany and Spain, Romero’s team repeatedly had phases in which at least part of it didn’t work. Conclusion: you could challenge the big players, but not ultimately put them in distress. Fölser: “The top nations have a much larger selection of players, every position is filled twice.” Without loss of quality, mind you. From summer onwards, Iker Romero will be available full-time for the Austrian national team. “That will be the next step,” said Fölser, who is convinced of the path despite the defeats at the European Championships. “Iker set a clear vision from the start and showed what he wanted to see from his team.”

Casual & serious

Similar to Pajovic, he is the type of coach who knows exactly when to loosen the leash and when to demand the necessary seriousness from his players. According to the players and supervisors, it is a good mix of a relaxed atmosphere and serious work.” You can never deny the will of the red-white-red professionals anyway.

Mykola Bilyk: “We have achieved a high level in recent years. The next steps are difficult because they involve little things.” Romero should take care of the finishing touches.