Austria’s handball youngsters inspire at the World Cup

Sunday was travel day for Austria’s national team. The team moved from there on a four-hour bus ride Ales Pajovic from the preliminary round to the main round, from Porec after Varazdin in the north of Croatia. Wait there on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday the next opponents with you North Macedonia, Netherlands and Hungary.

In the absence of the veterans due to injury Bilyk, Bozovic and now too Zivkovic Young players had to step into the breach, perform and were able to take advantage of their opportunity on the World Cup stage. One of them is Elias Kofler master with West Vienna and now a legionnaire Potsdam. After promotion to the German Bundesliga, he went through a tough apprenticeship with his club, with Potsdam in last place without a win. But Kofler continued to develop, both athletically and personally, and is already wearing the captain’s ribbon. At 24.

At the World Cup, the Viennese earned more and more minutes of action with good performances and became an integral part of the Austrian game over the course of the three preliminary round games. He failed to score against Kuwait, scored two goals against Qatar and four against France. “This is definitely positive in an unusual situation for all of us. We try to compensate for the failures as best we can.”

Opponents at the highest level

The 24-year-old has grown into his role. “With good performance comes self-confidence. But we don’t want to think about it much, we just want to have fun with handball. That’s what sets us apart.” Kofler arrived at the national team as an established legionnaire and brought with him a new self-image. “I think I have developed well in the last two years. Every week we play with Potsdam against top teams at a higher level.” This experience was helpful when France only faces players who play in the Champions League. “This is something else again.”

Bright future thanks to youth

He spent the bus ride sleeping and playing cards; he didn’t yet dream about his upcoming opponents in the main round. “They are not unbeatable. We showed at the last European Championship that we can beat teams like that. We simply have to take the spirit of the preliminary round with us, then we will be unpleasant opponents for every team.” And the quarter-finals? “It’s not a non-issue at all,” is how Kofler describes it. “But we should keep the ball flat,” says the German from Vienna.

Kofler is also pleased that other players such as Lastro, Damböck, Mahr, Nigg, Albek and Paulnsteiner are moving up. Robert Weber, for example, was the ultimate right-wing figure for years. Now Lastro and Nigg seize their chance. Kofler: “They are all top guys. It makes you look forward to the future.”