With the last win against Turkey, England Ladies were already TOP of the Group 5 and "qualified" for the Play-Offs coming in September this year. (Despite what the Stadium Announcer in Austria said BTW..he still had Spain as Group Leaders). So the Game in austria would be not a "real" test but a good occasion to show a great team performance, score some goals and with another 3 Points,get a better position for the Play-Off Draw. At this point I thought about talking of coefficents or such....but I better leave it to the UEFA-if they ever do know and understand their own regulations :)
The Venue was announced as Krems an der Donau , about 50 KM east of Vienna in a Region called Niederösterreich ( please dont make me translate this)...well this region in Austria is well known for a lot of good Womens Football Teams...SV Neulengbach (just to mention one and the best) for example is the Austrian WomensPremierLeague Champion and situated in this Region.
After a long.......a very long..... an unexpected extremly looooong...drive from Germany to Austria I finally arrived at friday late afternoon (already) ..so I walked around this very small town and alongside the Donau-River....The inner city or oldcity ( not downtown but oldtown ) was very small cos I just turned around a corner and suddenly stood right in front of the Stadium!
Well "STADIUM" might not be the decent word for this..it was a stadium yes but very small, old and with wooden seats at the only seated stands :)
Next Day..Saturday...Game Day and it was very hot! 3h before Kick-Off I met up with the rest of the England Supporters ( the No9's of course, The Browns, Linda with the Drum and Emma & Pete) at the typical Biergarten "Brauhof". We chatted a bit and well what can I say...time flies when you are having fun so already 1h left til Kick-off and we walked down to the Stadium. The Browns ( yes Rachel's Parents indeed) organized us 8 supporters a free entry and there were we......amongst all those Austrian Fans..actually a good growd...
(Reason for it- before the Womens Qualifying all youth teams of the Region were honoured for there Achievements at the youth leagues)....and we seated us nearly at level of middle-line whilst the Warm-up was already in Progress An austrian Family equipped with England Jerseys, Caps, Flags -oh wait it was the Union Jack :) asked if they can join us..of course they were very welcome ( still dont know why they root for england but HEY!! feel free to join) and an English Family living 5h southern in Austria completed our supporter group.
It was still boiling hot and some children in traditional clothing showed up and as the teams came out, they acompanied them to the Line-Up
National Anthems....and finally Kick-OFF by the Referee from Finland.
England starting very good and putting on pressure from the first minute on the Austrian Defence. With Kelly Smith ( returning to the Squad as #9) and the winger Karen Carney ( also returning to the Squad), Yanks ( at here 101! Cap ) and Jill Scott ( with the #10 Jersey) some great combinations let the Austrians struggle right from the start.
We were only a small group of supporters but we made a huge noise...ahm actually we were the only one making noise at all :) well maybe the Austrian Fans were just intimdated by our drum-yes Linda and her Drum were giving the Beat!
Countless efforts just missed the target by inches or were called offside ( I am coming back on this later) until in the 30th minute a great combination again and a pass from Yankey to Kelly finished with the 1-0 ENGLAND.....
Just a few minutes later Kelly again with the 2-0...... it couldnt be better! oh well yes we wanted a Hattrick and moments later it nearly happened but Kelly just facing one defender and the goalie passed the ball unselfish to Alex Scott and 3-0 the Director scored!! The Poor Guy behind the Scoreboard had lots of work..yes there was a score board that had to be changed manual by one person :) (did I already mention that it was a small and old stadium? No?)
After 40min suddenly a whistle was blown and both teams headed to the benches-I was wondering if it was halftime and the clock underneath the Scoreboard also had to be changed manual LOL
no-cos of the boiling heat it was a drinking break/time-out! I have never ever witness something like that...well to be honest a great UEFA regulation (this time!)
Shortly after that it really was Halftime and the score was 3-0 ENGLAND!
After the HT break it seemed as if Austria had a little more refreshment although England started with 2 Subs: Fay White out and Sophie Bradley in / Kelly Smith out and Ellen White in. Austria started a bit better and did put some pressure and the first "work" for Rachel Brown to clear a shot to a corner. But all efforts from Austria wasnt enough. Englands Defence was there to clear and another Offside-Time started again...Ellen White scored a goal what obviously was disallowed cos offside, but well we didnt recognized and celebrated and cheered..OOPS! :)
But just a few minutes later she did hit the back of the net again..well we werent sure, is it a goal or not? LINESWOMAN?? a goal yes? yes! YEEESS!!! 4-0 ENGLAND!!! and Ellen's 4Goal in 6Caps for the Senior Team. Just moments later another goal this time from Fara was called offside. Due to the still boiling heat and after another drinking-break the final minutes were a bit slower and relaxed, when Rachel Yankey had the 5th Goal at her feet but the cross-bar just wouldnt allow it! After 2minutes additional time the Game was over!
England wins the last Group Game with 4-0.... top of the group with 7Wins and 1Draw and 22points into the Play-Offs. Playoff draw will be held at 30th August..and after the game we went back to the "Brauhof" and discussed the other results from the Qualifying and the possible opponent and possible venues for the Home Play-Off Game.
ENGLAND is only 1 Step (2Games) away from the Women's World Cup next Year in GERMANY!
I am sure I am not the only one who cant wait til the
Road to Germany Continues......
SIDEKICKS: 5 THINGS I'VE LEARNED ON MY TRIP TO AUSTRIA
5) Germany's Motorways especially those leading south-east to AUSTRIA and CZ,SLO ... are a hell of construction areas (fortunately there are no venues for next years WWC at this direction!)
4) Austrians DONT speak German!! they do speak OOHH STRIII AAAHN (imagine Arnold Schwarzenecker saying that-same accent at the very similiar to german sounding language)
3) and Austrians are streeeeeching all words cos they have all the time of the world..they are sooooo slow -everyone who ever tried to get the bill from the waitress (another side kick: waitress is called SERVIERKRAFT-means serving women/person), knows of what I am talking....
2) Austrian Football Fans do not sing their national anthem....actually they do not sing/cheer/root at all!
1) Aside of other things not allowed in an austrian stadium ( for ex. all thing you can throw!?) ....LIPSTICK and NAIL VARNISH is not allowed to be taken to the stadium-UNLESS you are a member of a familygroup!!!
Who said that Germans are crazy??
