Austria face Germany, Slovakia, Belarus at home court Men's 20 EHF EURO

Two years ago, at the Men's 18 EHF EURO 2012 in Austria, the host nation's handball talents born in 1994 or younger were also seeded in a group together with Belarus.

They finished first in the preliminary round back then, and maybe they took this as a good omen as they decided to play Belarus once again in Group C of the preliminary round for the Men's 20 EHF EURO 2014 - also hosted in Austria - for which the preliminary round groups were drawn in Linz on Thursday.

Austria's, who had the right to choose the  two further opponents are Germany, winners of the youth event two years ago, and Slovakia.

In Group A Spain play France, FYR Macedonia and Norway. In Group B Denmark face Switzerland, Serbia and Estonia, while Sweden, Slovenia, Israel and Hungary were drawn to Group D.

The top two ranked teams from each group qualify for the main round, taking the points they obtained against the respective opponents from the same group with them.

Again the top two ranked teams of each group qualify from the main round for the semi-finals.

Experienced hosts

The Men's 20 EHF EURO marks the fifth time Austria hosts a major European handball tournament, having previously hosted the Women's 17 EHF EURO 2005, the Men's 20 EHF EURO 2006, the Men's EHF EURO 2010 and the Men's 18 EHF EURO 2012.

For the duration of the upcoming event (from 24 July to 3 August) the Austrian Handball Federation expects 25,000 spectators attending the matches in the two hosting cities, Linz and Traun.

For more information also visit the event's official website and the official Facebook page.