Victory against Norway: Austria celebrates reaching the quarter-finals

Austria’s soccer players are in the quarter-finals of the European Championship in England. The Alpine Republic secured second place in Group A behind the hosts with a 1-0 (1-0) win over Norway in Brighton.

The selection of the Austrian Football Association (ÖFB) will now face Germany next Thursday in Brentford (21/07/22, 9 p.m., CEST), who already decided before their third group game on Saturday (16/07/22, 9 p.m.) against Finland for qualified for the round of eight. “Against Germany we are clearly in the underdog role, but we will do our best to make it as difficult as possible for the Germans,” said ÖFB team boss Irene Fuhrmann.

Norway, on the other hand, was eliminated in the preliminary round of the European Championship for the second time in a row. For Sweden coach Martin Sjögren, who sat on the bench of the 1995 world champion and 2000 Olympic champion at both tournaments, the air could now be getting thin. “It’s not my decision. Of course I know how the football business works. It’s hard to say how things will continue,” the 45-year-old told Norwegian TV channel “TV 2”.

Lise Klaveness, president of the Norwegian Football Association (Norges Fotballforbund), declined to comment on Sjögren’s future: “It’s not possible to say anything about it now.”

Austria clearly sets the tone

Austria was clearly the dominant team in the first period. Although a draw was enough for the Alpine republic to advance, the Fuhrmann-Elf consistently looked for the way forward from the start. That was exactly the right recipe against anxious Norwegians, who couldn’t shake the 0:8 disaster against EURO hosts England out of their clothes. In the twelfth minute, goalkeeper Guro Pettersen, who let an unplaced shot by Laura Feiersinger slip through her hands and was lucky enough to hit the crossbar, symbolized the nervous Norwegian performance.

The fact that the 30-year-old Vålerenga Oslo goalkeeper was the best player in her colors as the game progressed said a lot about the Northern Europeans’ performance in the first half.

Billa takes the lead at half-time

But Pettersen was powerless once before the break when Verena Hanshaw, who had chosen Frankfurt, crossed softly to Nicole Billa, who had chosen Hoffenheim, and the 26-year-old made exactly the right choice: she headed the ball into the near corner to take a 1-0 lead (37th). Shortly afterwards, the attacker had to shake herself briefly after being elbowed in the face by a Norwegian in midfield. But the Germany legionnaire was not impressed by that either. She was, after all, an excellent kickboxer in her youth.

Meanwhile, Norway’s soccer players sneaked into the dressing room like battered boxers. Little to nothing about their performance in the first half served to be able to approach the second 45 minutes with hope.

Norway tried, but harmless for a long time

After the break, Sjögren’s side struggled to gain control of the game and put pressure on the Austrians. But the Norwegians still lacked creativity and the last determination to be able to put the again very safe defense group of the ÖFB selection under pressure. Austria remained the more dangerous team and had a great chance to make it 2-0 thanks to substitute Lisa Makas. Keeper Pettersen prevented the striker from scoring, which would have been tantamount to the decision (72′).

Zinsberger prevents compensation

So it remained the narrowest of all projections. Norway needed two goals to advance to the quarterfinals. The Northern Europeans created opportunities through Celin Bizet Ildhusøy (89′) and Ada Hegerberg (90′ + 2′), but failed in each case by keeper Manuela Zinsberger, who was already a hero in Austria’s semi-finals in 2017. Now the ball catcher from Arsenal WFC can hope for a repeat of the fairy tale. Prerequisite: A win against Germany next Thursday…