Reigning World Cup and European champions Austria announced their squad for the competition in the wake of the Röhrmax Cup in Arminen.
It is a Red Capricorns side missing some of their big names with goal machine Michael Körper – despite some attempts to get him to reconsider – retiring from the international stage in the wake of August’s outdoor Euros.
Oliver Binder and Leon Thörnblom are also unavailable and so opportunity knocks for a number of new faces this time. Youngsters like 17-year-old Max Meisel (UHC Hamburg) and 21-year-old Max Kelner (SV Arminen) are in to make their mark.
Under-21 captain Fülöp Losonci will also play his first senior Euros having captained the junior team to glory last January in Nymburk before heading off to the World Cup for his international debut.
Losonci was among a trip of star men involved in the German Bundesliga playoffs last weekend with Harvestehuder THC along with Fabian Unterkircher and Xaver Hasun.
Indeed, the side is based around two hubs. They are among five Hamburg based players with Meisel (UHC) and Benny Kölbl (Polo) also in the German city.
The rest are from Vienna with six hailing from SV Arminen and the legendary Benny Stanzl at Post SV.
Preparation has been tough because 80% of their panel were involved in the Olympic qualification process in Valencia earlier in January.
“We go to the Euros to qualify for the World Cup and defend our title,” says coach Robin Rösch of the challenge.
** To find out more about the tournament and buy tickets, go to the event website here: https://ehic2024.be/
** The EuroHockey focus is on a massive February of indoor hockey with events taking place on four consecutive weekends.
For fans around the world, it means lots of top class action to enjoy on EuroHockeyTV with the following top level tournaments all broadcast live on a pay-per-view basis or with an already purchased EHTV pass.
