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Austria fought 1-0 against Serbia. Whether that will be enough for direct qualification for the 2022 European Championship in England will not be decided until February.
Altach. The Austrian women’s team can still look forward to a fixed ticket to EM 2022 in England after a difficult 1-0 win against Serbia. The redeeming goal in Altach was scored by Nicole Billa (79th). Only the top three finalists in the group qualify directly, the ÖFB women now need patience and nerves.
Iceland leads the runners-up standings (1-0 in Hungary) ahead of Austria, Switzerland (0-4 in Belgium), like four other group runners-up, is firmly behind. But Italy (0-0 against Denmark) can in February’s final match against Israel with a victory (not entirely unreal) of six goals, as can Finland (1-0 in Scotland) and Portugal, whose direct duel is still pending, in ÖFB team stops. In this case, the play-off would wait in April.
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Irene Fuhrmann (ÖFB team leader): “It was the difficult match that was expected, especially considering that we had the France match under our belt. You could see that Serbia have really good players. It certainly wasn’t our best match, but we have to play it. We have three points in our league. counts. That’s what counts. We didn’t have access in the first half, we couldn’t control Poljak. At half-time we switched to four back and then we felt he had more access. So it was the right decision. Now it’s out of our hands “.
Nicole Billa (ÖFB scorer): “The goal was important for us to qualify, I am very happy to have taken advantage of the opportunity and to have won 1-0. The three points I were important. But generally I did not manage them like them. Others have played or have to play.”
Carina Wenninger (captain of the ÖFB): “The Serbs are a strong team, they were already really good in Serbia and they did it wisely against our pressure today. Our team chief then changed at half time and since then we had more access. Now of course I am happier to have We were able to score the winning goal so late. “
Only Serbia plays big
Even before kick-off, the Austrians knew that a three-goal win would be necessary to overtake Iceland. But one of these was clearly out of reach. Team boss Irene Fuhrmann offered the same starting eleven as recently against France (0: 3), who should still implement the offensive plan. It just didn’t open at all. The Austrians seemed nervous and inhibited, the organization was wrong, the passports were imprecise.
Serbia, on the other hand, played freely, especially Allegra Poljak. The Tenerife legionnaire never managed to dominate the ÖFB defense, the result: a shot from the pole (4th) and two brilliant performances by Manuela Zinsberger (35th, 37th). The Austrian goalkeeper also saved Dina Blagojević (24th). Surprisingly little or nothing joined the ÖFB women, only turned dangerous once by Laura Wienroither (15th).
Fuhrmann switched to four defenders during the break, brought in new offensive forces with Laura Feiersinger and Lisa Makas and gradually disbanded the defense. That brought more access and possession, but hardly any scoring opportunities. Ultimately, it was a mistake by the Serbs that started the redemption goal at 1-0: Sarah Zadrazil intercepted a bad pass, hung up for Nicole Billa and the Hoffenheim forward shot (79th). Carina Wenninger’s 100th international match ended with a lackluster 1-0 win, its worth remains to be seen.
Austria 1-0 Serbia (0: 0). SR Olofssen (SWE). Tor: Billa (79º).
Austria: Zinsberger; Kirchberger, Wenninger, Puntigam; Vienna, Eder (46th Naschenweng), Zadrazil, Aschauer; Dunst (76th Makas), Billa (87th Pinther), Enzinger (46th Feiersinger).
