After finishing the EHF EURO 2020 without any points, Poland ended this black series on Friday night in Bratislava, beating Austria 36:31 thanks to nine goals from top scorer Arkadiusz Moryto.
In their 50th match at an EHF EURO final tournament, Poland celebrated their 20th victory. After Germany beat Belarus, Austria find themselves already with their backs against the wall in their neighbour duel on Sunday – when right wing Robert Weber only needs one more strike for his 100th EHF EURO goal.
GROUP D
Austria vs Poland 31:36 (14:17)
- the first goal in the match was a historic one: Fabian Posch scored his 200th goal for Austria – but after leading 4:3 his side were never again ahead. Meanwhile with 23 games, Robert Weber is now Austria’s all-time number in terms of EHF EURO matches and is on 99 EHF EURO goals
- despite Covid-19 cases for key players such as goalkeeper Adam Morawski or defence boss Piotr Chrapkowski, Poland showed an extremely strong performance in their first ever EHF EURO duel against Austria, leading three times by four goals before the break
- boosted by two large fan groups in the arena – both dressed in red and white – Poland and Austria continued an intense battle for crucial points
- in minute 47, the Polish top scorer of the first half, Szymon Sicko, received a direct disqualification after a foul against Nikola Bilyk – but his teammates remained stalwart
- as goalkeeper Mateusz Kornecki improved and when Kamil Syprzak scored for the lead at 35:29 in minute 57, Poland had sealed the deal
Moryto again in goal mode
Last year, Arkadisuz Moryto was best Polish scorer at the IHF Men’s World Championship with 36 goals. In 2020, he netted 14 times in only three matches at the EHF EURO – and right from the start of the EHF EURO 2022, the Lomza Vive Kielce right wing is underlining his hunger for goals again.
After three strikes before the break, Moryto added six more to his tally to be best scorer of the match against Austria. In the Covid-hit Polish team, the wing took the responsibility and deservedly received the award as Grundfos Player of the Match.