Big win and historic match against Slovenia this sunday

Comments from the mixed zone after Macedonia defeated Austria 36:31 at the Ali Bin Hamad Al-Attiyah Arena.

Mykola Bilyk (AUT)
"It was a difficult game against a tough opponent. After a balanced first half they improved their defence and unfortunately our offence didn't have answers. But it's all over now, let's go our way to the next round. A big fight, this is all about getting a place in the quarter-finals. We will try to do our best, no doubt. I am excited to play here and I take every match as a big lesson for the future."

Viktor Szilagyi (AUT)
"It is nice to play against the host, but it will be a big challenge. Qatar have delivered incredibly good matches and results. We absolutely wanted to win today so that we would face the third ranked team of the other group. Unfortunately, it didn't work out. We will prepare ourselves intensively for the match and will hopefully make the next step."

Naumche Mojsovski (MKD)
"We wanted to win and we made everything possible for this to happen, and not to play Qatar in the next round. But it was also an opportunity to play good handball once again and prove that we deserve to get the second place in the group. It is going to be a hard Balkan party! We know each other, we have played many friendly games and I think it will be a great battle. I think it is better to play against them than to meet Qatar."

Borko Ristovski (MKD)
"We have a very good team, many players and also the second team performed very well so we had enough power for the second half. We wanted this win and the second place in our group, so we do not play the eighth-final against the hosts, that have a lot of support. One more game, we go for a win and then we are in the qualification phase for the Olympics."

Ivica Obrvan (MKD)
"Congratulations to Austria and to my players for that game, which ended with a good result for us. It has been a difficult match, since we have played five in a row and now we are focused on the next round. I feel very proud for what we have achieved so far and I am sure that we will do our best in the eighth-final."

Patrekur Johannesson (AUT)
"I want to thank Macedonia for the game. In the first half we performed a good defence and our goalkeeper, Thomas Bauer played very well, but the second half has been another story. We were affected by the red card given to Vytautas Ziura who is a great defender, while our opponents played an intelligent game and took advantage of every opportunity. However I am very proud of my team and we promise to fight hard in the next game. I have a lot of respect for them. Right now I haven't a complete opinion on them, but we will study their game and get prepared for a big battle."

Thomas Bauer (AUT)
"Macedonia played better and deserved to win tonight. I was disappointed at the end of the game, but our supporters are right: we must overcome the disappointment and be ready to play the eighth-final game vs Qatar."