“We have to be realistic, it will of course be very difficult in qualifying now. But I also told the players that when we went to the European Championships, we had our backs against the wall for a while,” said ÖFB team boss Werner Gregoritsch. And captain Leopold Querfeld added: “We won’t give up now. Not even half of the qualification has been completed.” The nine winners and the three best runners-up in the group are guaranteed to take part in the European Championship, while six other runners-up in the group are fighting for three more European Championship tickets in the play-off.
For the ÖFB U21, the game almost started with a cold shower. As a result of a corner from the guests, Tjas Begic pulled away from the halfway line due to Nikolas Polster, who was well in front of the goal, but the ball rolled well past the goal (5th). The ÖFB goalkeeper subsequently had to intervene in two shots from Tio Cipot into the near corner (15th, 18th). The Slovenians were better in the game, but could have fallen behind in return. Muharem Huskovic let the ball rebound to Nikolas Veratschnig, who shot past (19′).
GEPA/Avni Retkoceri Gregoritsch and his team suffered a bitter setback
After the restart, Gregoritsch’s troops missed the start. Less than a minute and a half had been played when Svit Seslar scored past Polster after an ideal hole pass from the strong Cipot. The Austrians recovered from the low blow, but lacked the necessary luck in the end. Zan-Luk Leban parried a Huskovic header (52′). The inside bar saved a free kick from Dijon Kameri, and Yusuf Demir missed the follow-up shot from six meters (59′). Eight minutes later, a shot from the Basel legionnaire was blocked.
“We have to become more mature”
Instead of a period of pressure in the finish, the Slovenians, coached by ex-Austrian Milenko Acimovic, were significantly closer to scoring towards the end of the game. Cipot (86th), David Flakus Bosilj (88th) and Mitja Ilenic, who hit the bar (97th), missed. At that point the home team were decimated after a yellow-red card for Mark Strajnar.
“We did well at times, let the ball run, but didn’t get into enough finishing situations. We were also unlucky with Kameri’s free kick. We just have to become more mature. The Slovenians showed us the means by which you can be successful in the U21,” Gregoritsch summed up. For his team, which welcomes France in Ried on November 17th, there was the second winless game en suite after nine unbeaten competitive games. In contrast to the 1:2 test in Hartberg against Norway last week, the defeat this time was extremely painful.
Positive news for U19 and U17
There was positive news for other ÖFB youth teams. Austria’s U19s made it to the elite round at the qualifying tournament in Podgorica. Oliver Lederer’s team won the tournament with a 0-0 draw against England, unbeaten and without conceding a goal. The ÖFB team started with a 0-0 draw against Wales and defeated Montenegro 1-0. Montenegro secured the second promotion spot with a 3-0 win against Wales. The final qualifying phase will take place in spring 2024. The eight-team finals will take place in Northern Ireland from July 15-28, 2024.
The U17s also moved into the elite round as group winners. After being 2-0 down in Tskaltubo, the ÖFB team coached by Martin Scherb fought back to a 2-2 draw against Denmark thanks to goals from Philipp Moizi (61′) and Ensar Music (75′). The tournament ended unbeaten after a 2-1 win against Georgia and a 1-0 win against Lithuania. Here too, the crucial qualifying phase will take place in the spring, with the final round taking place in Cyprus between May 20 and June 5, 2024.
U21 European Championship qualification
Tuesday:
Slovenia – Austria 1:0 (0:0)
Murska Sobota, City Stadium Fazanerija
Tor: Seslar (47.)
Austria: Polster – Veratschnig, Querfeld, Koller, Ibertsberger (62./Estrada) – Sattlberger, Kameri – Oswald (62./Braunöder), Demir (83./Bischof), Lang (83./Havel) – Huskovic (91./ Zimmermann)
Yellow-red card: Strajnar (91./Slovenia/Foul)
France – Cyprus 9:0
Table: 1. France 3 3 0 0 15:1 9 2. Slovenia 4 3 0 1 6:5 9 3.
Austria
3 1 1 1 3:2 4 4. Cyprus 3 0 1 2 1:13 1 5. Bosnia-Herzegovina 3 0 0 3 2:6 0
