A dream goal heralded Austria’s next victory

Four days after the 3-2 win against Belgium, Austria’s women’s national soccer team celebrated the next full success at the test level in Wiener Neustadt. Irene Fuhrmann’s protégés, who recorded their 21st victory in the 34th country match on the command bridge, deservedly retained the upper hand against the Czech Republic with 2:0 (0:0).

Marie-Therese Höbinger was responsible for the highlight of the evening. The 21-year-old FC Zurich legionnaire scored a dream goal in the 62nd minute. She took a measure on the right side just inside the penalty area and curled the ball into the left corner, past the puzzled Olivie Lukasova. “That broke the knot. We dominated for long stretches,” said Höbinger.

But that’s not all. Katharina Naschenweng (Hoffenheim) made it 2-0 (68th) 360 seconds later from a tight angle. The template came from substitute Vöcklabruckerin Lisa Kolb (SC Freiburg).

“The 2-0 is okay. But it wasn’t all good. We made a lot of unforced mistakes that we have to stop,” analyzed Fuhrmann.

The U19 team is going to the EURO

For the second time since 2016, an Austrian U19 women’s national team has qualified for a EURO. The red-white-red team won all three group games – including the showdown in Vercelli against hosts Italy 2-1 (0-0). Born in Marchtrenker Isabel Aistleitner (Vienna) elegantly overcame goalkeeper Viola Bartalini to make it 2-0 (79th) – a goal worth seeing.

The 1:0 (54th) was down to Nicole Ojukwu (54th), who also beautifully sunk a free kick from 25 meters. Innviertler Isabell Schneiderbauer from LASK came on in the 73rd minute.

After the redeeming final whistle, the mood was relaxed. “It’s unbelievable, we’ve worked so hard towards this goal,” said team boss Hannes Spilka. The finals will take place in Belgium (July 18-30).