In order for the eleven of the Austrian Football Association (ÖFB) to end up as one of the best three runners-up in their group, Ireland must not win in Slovakia. There is certainty about this even before the kick-off in Lower Austria, as Ireland is already in action before that. In addition, there must be no extraordinary victories by Wales, Portugal and Scotland. What the squad of team leader Irene Fuhrmann can do for themselves is the outcome of their own game. A 6:1 or any other victory with at least a six goal difference must come at the end.
Not an unlikely scenario, as it happened in the first meeting on September 21, 2021 in Skopje thanks to goals from Marie-Therese Höbinger (12th), Nicole Billa (20th / penalty, 67th, 71st) and Verena Hanshaw (37th, 65.) given a 6-0 win. “We want to dominate, score as many goals as possible and do our homework with that. We cannot influence everything else,” said Fuhrmann.
“It won’t be a sure-fire success”
However, she warned against taking the task against world No. 134 lightly. “North Macedonia have dangerous players in attack that we need to control in order to implement our plan,” said the Viennese. This refers to captain Natasha Andonova, who works for the Spanish first division club Levante, and Gentjana Rochi, who strikes for Kuopio in Finland.
“You should never underestimate an opponent, it won’t be a sure-fire success, we have to invest something there,” said offensive player Julia Hickelsberger-Füller. The first step is therefore to win once. “Then it’s all about the goals.” They didn’t score in the 2-0 defeat in Wiener Neustadt against European champions England on Saturday.
In the third duel with the “Lionesses” in less than a year, the lack of ÖFB efficiency prevented a goal or maybe a point. As a result, the opportunity was missed to improve the starting position in the fight for the best runners-up.
Captain Weninger calls for “full throttle”
“It’s already going to be relatively difficult, but it’s important to win once, you can see everything else anyway,” said offensive player Laura Feiersinger. In order for that to succeed, captain Carina Wenninger asked her team to “press full throttle right from the start”. Full-back Laura Wienroither also plays a role, as she didn’t want to attach much importance to the play-off issue. “If we have to play in the first round, it’s okay, if not too.”
The play-off starts on October 6th, the second round follows on October 11th. Of the three winners there, however, only two buy the fixed ticket for the final round (July 20th to August 20th). The lowest-ranked play-off winner will have to try their luck in the intercontinental play-off in New Zealand next February (18-23). The European play-off will be drawn on Friday.
