Teammate bond: Hutecek and Möstl ready for Austria’s first challenge

Two even play in the same club — centre back Lukas Hutecek and goalkeeper Constantin Möstl from TBV Lemgo Lippe.

“The matches against Germany are always special,” says goalkeeper Möstl, who arrived in Germany in 2024 from Alpla Hard.

“Everyone knows everyone — there are no secrets. It’s simply about who performs better over the 60 minutes. We’re not going into the match as favourites — that’s Germany. But we firmly believe in our chances,” says 25-year-old Möstl, just like Hutecek.

Some months before his transfer, “Consti” had had one of his most remarkable matches, against Germany in the EHF EURO main round in Cologne, when the goalkeeper was Austria’s hero in the 22:22 draw.

“I’ve watched that match a few more times, it was really fun. Playing in Germany in front of 20,000 fans and almost taking the wind out of their sails was great. It was a wonderful experience, but it’s in the past. Now we want to repeat it. We’ll need another performance like that — from me, from the team, from everyone — to crack the Germans,” says Möstl, adding: “Since I’ve been part of the team, we’ve never beaten them — even though we’ve played very good matches and managed two draws. Now we have another chance to perform well against our big neighbour and really test them.”

Hutecek, who joined Lemgo in 2021 from Vienna Fivers, has the same dream: “We all hope that we can finally beat Germany, but of course it will be very, very difficult. Germany are a top team, packed with world-class players. But we also know that on a good day we can beat anyone. We’ve had Germany on the brink of defeat twice in the last two years — now we want the two points.

“It’s always something special to play against Germany. I know all the players very well from the Bundesliga. But the national teams also know each other extremely well — we’ve faced each other very often recently,” adds “Luki” Hutecek.

But how can the daily work of the goalkeeper and playmaker in Lemgo boost the Austrian national team?

“There’s an axis between me and Constantin — he knows how I set up the block. We have a kind of blind understanding: he knows what I’m doing and when he can take risks. That helps a lot. We really appreciate each other as athletes and as friends,” says Hutecek. 

Prior to the neighbours' duel, German goalkeeper Andreas Wolff added some spice to the EHF EURO 2026 opener of the sides. When asked about Austria, he said in an interview: “Austria play absolute anti-handball. Nobody really wants to watch that. It’s very unattractive — even for us as players.”

Hutecek and Möstl have their own impression of this statement: “I couldn’t care less what Andreas Wolff thinks about our style of play, it doesn’t interest me at all,” says the playmaker, while the goalkeeper even puts a positive spin on it: “Anyone who needed motivation has now got that final push from those comments. We’ll keep our thoughts to ourselves and give our answer on the court.”

Hutecek goes even further, adding: “If you beat Germany, there’s a proper party.” 

Beating Wolff is not the only motivation for Austria, but also to give their new coach Iker Romero a victory in the first official match of the Spaniard as successor of Slovenian-born Aleš Pajovič.

“Iker has taken over many things from Pajo, but he’s also introduced a lot of new elements. Especially in defence, his work has brought many new impulses. He demands a lot from us, but that’s exactly what we need to take the next step,” says Hutecek.

Möstl shares this thought: “We don’t play completely differently, because we’re still the same players. Lukas Hutecek won’t suddenly run the game differently just because there’s a new coach. What has changed are the clear instructions. He’s an emotional coach with a Spanish temperament, and that gives us a real boost.” 

In the two following matches of the preliminary round group A, the hurdles are similarly high for Austria, but the hope to make it to the second consecutive main round is alive for Möstl.

“The matches against Serbia and Spain will also be real challenges. We’ll have to give everything three times. It won’t be easy, everyone knows that. It’s no walk in the park. Everyone has the same chances in this group, regardless of how many superstars you have in your team. We’re comfortable with our underdog role.”

Photos © kolektiff images