Only about 40 minutes before the kick-off of the last World Cup qualifying group game against North Macedonia today (8.30 p.m., ORF Sport+) in Wiener Neustadt will Austria’s women’s national soccer team know whether it’s worth firing up the goal factory.
Only if Ireland don’t win in Slovakia at 6 p.m. is there a chance of finishing third-best in group runners-up and thus avoiding the first of up to three play-off rounds on the way to the 2023 World Cup finals in Australia and New Zealand.
If the “prelude” goes as desired, Irene Fuhrmann’s red-white-red team must ignite the turbo and score at least six goals. Any result from 6:1 upwards is then enough to intercept Belgium (currently third best runner-up) and Ireland. Sounds complicated, but that’s how it is. “No matter what happens – our goal is to win with plus six. We have proven that we can combine quite well against weaker players,” emphasized midfield director Sarah Zadrazil (FC Bayern), who will be contesting her 102nd country match.
The away game against North Macedonia in September 2021 already provided a foretaste of what could be to come. Another 6-0 would fit well into the picture. “It will also depend on how fresh we are after a two-day break. The head will decide a lot,” emphasized team boss Fuhrmann: “I expect that we will be happy to go into the game and try to bring in a flow, to shine offensively and score a lot of goals.” And regardless of the outcome of the Ireland game. “We want to leave this course with the best possible feeling so that we are prepared for the big challenges,” emphasized the 41-year-old from Vienna, with a view to the play-offs that will be drawn on Friday.
The first round (with a possible bye) will take place on October 6th, the second on October 11th. In the end, three winning teams remain, the worst-ranked still has to go to an intercontinental play-off (February 18th to 23rd) in New Zealand exist. It’s a rocky road.
Source: Nachrichten
