Austria march into finals

Austria marched into the finals of the UEFA European Under-17 Championship for the second successive season after a 2-0 victory against hosts Romania ensured they can not be caught at the top of the Group 6 mini-tournament.

Better organised
From the outset the Austrians appeared better organised and stronger than the Romanians. They enjoyed the larger share of possession and it was no surprise when they took the lead after eight minutes when Erwin Hoffer's neat pass set up Sandro Zakany.

Suttner strike
Four minutes later it was 2-0 after Markus Suttner hit the back of the net with a free-kick. There were no more goals but that did not matter to Austria who are top of the group with six points and cannot be overhauled. Even if they were to lose their last game against Moldova and nearest rivals the Finns were to beat Romania to join them on six points Austria would still progress on head-to-head criteria.

Gludovatz comments
Austria coach Paul Gludovatz was pleased to clinch qualification for the May finals in France, but was not totally satisfied with his side's performance. "It was a poor game from a tactical and technical point of view," he said. "We were efficient and scored early which was good as our aim was to win the match so we did not have to rely on the last match.

Emotional encounter
"The match was very emotional, not only for me as I am 60 years old and football is my life, but especially for the kids. We are in France, that is clear and we did it step by step," he concluded. 

Other qualifiers
Austria will join hosts France and Group 4 winners Portugal in the eight-team finals. The other five participants will be determined this month with the tournament draw taking place on 2 April.