For Austria’s women’s national soccer team, the door to the quarter-finals at the European Championships in England is still open. The ÖFB selection celebrated a 2-0 (1-0) win against Northern Ireland in Southampton on Monday evening and thus scored in the second Group A game for the first time. As a result, captain Viktoria Schnaderbeck and Co. initially drew level on points with hosts England and Norway, who subsequently met in Brighton in the duel between the two winners.
Team boss Irene Fuhrmann’s squad has thus achieved the minimum goal for the final round, as they had to work out a “final” at the end of the group phase on Friday (9 p.m. / live ORF 1) in Brighton against Norway. Ironically, Katharina Schiechtl (19th), who was in the starting eleven for Laura Wienroither, who was suffering from the corona virus, provided the lead in front of 9,268 spectators, including the Styrian Southampton coach Ralph Hasenhüttl. Katharina Naschenweng (88th) made everything clear. In contrast to the 0:1 in the opening game at Old Trafford, the red-white-red fans were able to celebrate.
Austria set the tone
Fuhrmann made three changes compared to the duel with fellow favorites England. In addition to the right defense that had become necessary, Marie-Therese Höbinger in midfield and Julia Hickelsberger-Füller in attack got the chance right from the start. Laura Feiersinger and Katharina Naschenweng therefore had to go to the bench for the time being.
The game went as hoped for by the ÖFB side, the game was clearly controlled, and it didn’t take long for the first opportunities. Hickelsberger-Füller missed a header from a good position (8′), Nicole Billa hit the side netting (10′). While the action was played out beautifully, the only goal before the break came from a dead ball. A Puntigam free kick was deflected slightly at first and then shot into the net by Schiechtl from a short distance.
Otherwise the last pass often didn’t arrive, the 2-0 was only really in the air once. The Northern Irish goalkeeper Jacqueline Burns deflected a Dunst shot off the crossbar (42′). There was not really anything to see from the EM debutant in the offensive.
“Joker” Naschenweng
At the break there was an ÖFB double exchange. Schnaderbeck, who was struggling with knee problems, was replaced by Marina Georgieva, Feiersinger was exchanged for Höbinger. Little went forward at the beginning of the second half, Northern Ireland tried vehemently to increase their offensive efforts. The Austrians didn’t get along very well for long stretches, suddenly nervousness and insecurity was palpable. The second goal almost came, however, as Burns missed a shot by Dunst, which was not penalized (64′).
Northern Ireland’s first chance came in the 69th minute when a Furness header went over. The longer the game lasted, the better they got the Austrians under control again and subsequently closed the sack. A wide Puntigam free-kick landed at “Joker” Naschenweng, who took the ball down, put it through in the penalty area and shot in.
The ÖFB squad won with a two-goal difference, just as they did in the 3-1 World Cup qualifier in April in Wiener Neustadt. Every goal is extremely important, as the goal difference could also be decisive in the final count. After the 1:4 against Norway, Northern Ireland also lost the second European Championship game in the association’s history.
Source: Nachrichten
