“My level of awareness has clearly increased. It’s a new situation for me, I’m surprised by the amount of consistently positive feedback,” says Austria’s football team boss Irene Fuhrmann after a short vacation, during which not a day went by without being met by complete strangers people was addressed.
Reaching the quarter-finals at the European Championships has apparently left a lasting impression – especially among young people. And it’s not just about girls. “I was also recognized by boys from eight to twelve and asked for selfies,” says Fuhrmann. “I didn’t realize how excited kids were about how we performed.”
The lively demand for tickets for the World Cup qualifying duel with the newly crowned champion England on Saturday (5.30 p.m., ORF 1) in Wiener Neustadt confirms this. The arena will be sold out with 3900 visitors.
No fewer than 26 media representatives have announced themselves from Great Britain alone. There is real hype about the “Lionesses” around captain Leah Williamson, which London legionnaire Manuela Zinsberger (WFC Arsenal) is able to emphatically substantiate first-hand.
“The euphoria is really palpable. The English will also play against the USA (number 1 in the world, note) at a sold-out Wembley, that’s a statement from the association. Our club’s season tickets are already sold out, and so are Chelsea. We will have a North London derby (Arsenal vs. Tottenham, note) in front of more than 35,000 spectators,” emphasized the 26-year-old ÖFB goalkeeper.
After the resignation of Viktoria Schnaderbeck, Carina Wenninger (AS Roma/120 internationals), who captained the national team in the 2-0 quarter-final against Germany on the pitch at Brentford, will wear the ribbon. Austria’s record international Sarah Puntigam (124 ÖFB matches) is number two in the hierarchy, Sarah Zadrazil (100) moved up into the “inner circle”.
Zinsberger (83) has to be patient a little longer, but that’s okay with her. “It is important that we have clearly divided roles. Everyone would like to be in the position of being captain in the women’s national team,” admits the Lower Austrian frankly. Postscript: “Nothing changes for me. I’m going to bust my ass just like before.” And continue to communicate clearly what is on her heart.
“We’re good, we play actively, we’re courageous, we don’t hide. Maybe we need to be a bit smarter,” says Zinsberger, describing the current situation so that we can immediately strive for the best. “We definitely want to think bigger. The next step is that we have a broader staff, because then we can do more of what we set out to do.” You definitely need 100 percent against England.
Source: Nachrichten
