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Macedonians claim second position in group B

Fyro Macedonia vs Austria 150123Qatar 2015 M54 MKD vs AUT-GEO31 xlarge

Macedonia - Austria 36:31 (16:16)

Macedonia claimed second place in group B at 24th Men's Handball World Championship in Qatar. The Balkan team celebrated a 36:31 win over Austria in the battle for the position behind Croatia, which will pit them against Slovenia in the eighth-final. The Macedonians overcame their initial problems with the Austrian 5-1 defence, going from 3:4 to 6:4 12 minutes into the match. The player who made the difference was Macedonian goalie Borko Ristovski with a handful of saves, assisted by the "goal machine" Kiril Lazarov. The first Macedonian gunner scored four goals in the first 15 minutes, putting his team three goals ahead 8:5. The Austrian team, led by Icelandic coach Patrekur Johannesson, became more aggressive in defense which produced a few easy goals, mainly by flying right wing Robert Weber. He scored seven goals in the first half, not allowing Macedonia to stay ahead before going into the the dressing room.

Fyro Macedonia vs Austria 150123Qatar 2015 M54 MKD vs AUT-GEO47 xlarge

Austria leveled the score at 10 after a 3:0 series. Macedonian wings Manaskov and Georgievski put, once again, their team two goals up (12:10) in the 20th minute when the Austrian bench called time-out. That was a good decision as team leader Viktor Szilagyi alongside Robert Weber discovered the way to catch their opponent. Alexander Hermann scored his first goal for 15:15, while Szylagi scored the equaliser before the buzzer for 16:16. Szylagi put Austria ahead briefly 19:18 but only 20 seconds later his teammate Vytautas Ziura was sent-off after a rough foul on Filip Mirkulovski, which turned out to be a turning point in this match. The Macedonians produced a 6:1 series, led by goals from Lazarov, Nemanja Pribak and Dejan Manaskov, but thanks also to a few fine saves by second goalie Petre Angelov.who gave Macedonia a new energy boost. Austria were five goals up in the 47th minute (27:22) when their bench called time-out. But that didn't change much on the court in Ali Bin Hamad Al Atiyyah Arena. Eight minutes before the final whistle, the difference remained the same (30:25). The Austrians managed to narrow the gap in the 56th minute (32:28), the closest they would come. The top scorer for the winning team was Kiril Lazarov with 9 goals, while Robert Weber netted eight for Austria.

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