Romania finishes second leg of 2012 European League with devastating defeat from Austria
Be it at home or away, Romanian team failed to make a good impression on spectators’ minds. Romania hosted the first leg of 2012 CEV European League but could not produce any good results. Quite similarly, the team failed to step up in the second week.
Romania received 0-3 (18-25, 21-25, 16-25) defeat from Austria in the last match of 2nd leg on Sunday, which moved Romania to a disappointing 1-5 record in the tournament. On the other hand, Austria just started the campaign in second week and improved to
2-1 in Pool B.
Thomas Zass of Austria perfectly fit in the role of attention grabber in the match. He displayed incredible action on the net and contributed match-high 22 points to Austrian score. Romania’s Tofan was the only player with double-figure score as he added
10 points in the failing effort.
Romania scored the first point of the match, while Austria took some time and then stroke back. Austrian team followed a proper plan and showed good consistency in attack and defence. With the help of powerful cross court shots, they scored consecutive points
and at the same time restricted the opponents to a low score with solid defence.
Once Austria went up on the scoreboard, Romania could not take the lead back. Austrians continued with success and kept the game under hand. In between, Romania coach asked for two timeouts and hoped for betterment. Nonetheless, Romanian side failed to cope
with the charged-up Austrians and suffered the loss of opening set, 18-25.
In the following set, Romania played comparatively better but still it was not enough to save them from embarrassing results. Austria covered the length of second set at 25-21 and extended its lead to 2-0.
The first half of the third set featured back ‘n’ forth action, while score shifted up at low pace. However, Austria played fast in the latter half and finished the final frame, 25-16. Austria settled for 3-0 win in the match.
Dan Gavril, the Romanian head coach, regretted the loss in the match. In his view, too many unforced mistakes led his team to defeat. Nonetheless, he praised the wonderful performance of opponents. Romanian skipper Dan Borota had the similar feelings. He
described that his team had the lack of concentration and focus, which benefitted the opposite team.
In the meanwhile, the winning coach of Austria Michael Warm said, “Some key players were missing today as they are currently struggling with injuries or sick. Our group is very young but I am evidently very happy with this result.”
In the next run, Austria team will return to action as Michael Warm’s squad will take on hosts Czech Republic on coming Friday.
Tags: