The Swiss handball team narrowly miss out on their first win in the second game of the European Championship qualifiers. In their home game against Austria, they conceded the equalizer seconds before the end to make it 29:29.
Three days after the clear opening defeat against Olympic silver medallists Germany (26:35), the Swiss showed a strong improvement in their home game. The 2450 spectators in Schaffhausen witnessed a gripping, hard-fought duel in which the hosts repeatedly took the lead but were never able to pull away decisively.
Shortly before the end, Samuel Zehnder converted a seven-meter penalty to make it 29:28 for Switzerland. However, coach Andy Schmid's team were unable to hold on to their narrow lead. Janko Bozovic equalized for the visitors practically with the final whistle.
4 red cards
The game was rough at times, as evidenced by four red cards, three of them against Switzerland (Willecke/44th, Laube/49th and Steenaerts/56th). Top scorers for the home side were Manuel Zehnder and Luka Maros with six goals each. Goalie Nikola Portner impressed with 13 saves.
Duel for 2nd place
Despite narrowly missing out on victory, the points could ultimately be worth their weight in gold for the Swiss. Germany, who also won their second group game with a 36:29 victory in Turkey, are the first contenders for group victory. Behind them, Switzerland are likely to duel with Austria for 2nd place. This will also be enough for participation in the 2026 European Championship finals in Denmark, Sweden and Norway. Although the four best third-placed teams in the eight groups will also progress, only the results against the two top teams count for this ranking.
The SHV team's European Championship qualifying campaign continues in March with an away and home match against Turkey. Before that, however, the focus will be on participation in the World Cup in January.
SDA
