Austria burst on to Women's U17 scene
Monday, October 12, 2009
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Austria's debut UEFA European Women's Under-17 Championship campaign began in spectacular fashion as they racked up 21 goals in three wins to top first qualifying round Group 9 ahead of the Czech Republic.
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Austria's debut UEFA European Women's Under-17 Championship campaign began in spectacular fashion as they racked up 21 goals in three wins to top first qualifying round Group 9.
Progress confirmed
Having not entered the opening two editions, Austria showed their ability in their opening match in Lithuania by beating the Czech Republic 5-1. The following 3-1 defeat of Scotland confirmed first place with a game to spare, and they celebrating by overcoming the mini-tournament hosts 13-1. The Czech Republic will hope their runners-up slot will be enough for them to join Austria in the second qualifying round.
Comfortable wins
On Matchday 1, Austria were three up at the break against the Czech Republic after Heike Manhart's opener was added to by a pair of goals in the last two minutes of the first half by Deniz Kuyucaklioglu. Sarah Zadrazil scored before Klára Cahynová pulled one back and Kuyucaklioglu completed her hat-trick at the death. Scotland opened by beating Lithuania 13-0 with nine different scorers.
Austria celebrate
The Czech Republic overcame Lithuania 18-0 in their second outing with Eva Bartoňová scoring five goals and Nikola Danihelková and Aneta Šmidrkalová four each. That meant that Austria's win against Scotland left them in an unassailable position at the top. Chloe Craig had given Scotland a 16th-minute lead but Katharina Schiechtl equalised before the interval and Laura Feiersinger and Kuyucaklioglu secured the points for Austria.
Czech wait
In the concluding fixtures, Kuyucaklioglu was substituted 34 minutes in against Lithuania but her replacement Zadrazil was to score a hat-trick, as did Denise Feichtinger. The Czechs beat Scotland 5-0 to claim second place with Bartoňová taking her mini-tournament goal tally to eight with a hat-trick. That margin of victory could prove vital as only the six runners-up with the best record against the teams first and third in their section from the ten groups will go forward to the 16 December second qualifying round draw.