Austria got its first victory in the European football championships when it beat Northern Ireland 2-0. The fighting attitude of Northern Ireland and the pride of representing their national team in prestigious competitions earned the respect of ‘s studio experts.
Austria, who started their EC tournament cheerfully, took their first victory in the games in the A group at the expense of Northern Ireland. by Katharina Schiechlt and by Katharina Naschenwen the goals were enough, as the Northern Irish were held to zero in a struggle that ended with a score of 2–0.
Austria dominated the match with the ball, creating a lot of scoring chances in the game. However, both of its hits came from free kicks. The special situations have indeed been poison for Northern Ireland in the games, as they have let in six hits in the games, four of which were created through a special situation. Three of those have been hits from free kicks.
For the Austrians, the victory over a weaker opponent was very important. “Das Team’s” place in the A group is tight, as it bowed to the strong host country England in its first match and will face Norway in the last game of its group.
You can watch the score summary of the Austria-Norway match in the video below.
For Northern Ireland, the start of the Games has been disappointing from their point of view, but expected in advance. The group, which was billed as the weakest team in its group, has lost its first two games. It has managed to score a goal in the debut tournament of the prestigious championships, while the topper Julie Nelson scored a goal in the loss against Norway.
In the eyes of the experts, the team’s desire to play brave football, even extremely brave, has been considered a positive thing. The team fights hard, builds its attacking game from the bottom up and sometimes presses very high.
– In all their games, the pride of playing for the national team in prestigious competitions is highlighted. In tackling, blocking shots and protecting your own goal, for example. For them, everything that happens at the moment is a dream, ‘s studio expert Marianne Miettinen described before the match against Austria.
– The Football Association of Northern Ireland has given them the opportunity to become professionals for the last six months. They pay them a salary so that the day-job players can give their all for once in their life, he continued.
Many players from Northern Ireland work or study alongside playing. For example, those finishing their university degrees Joely Andrews, Simone Magill and Emily Wilsonand working as a nurse Nadine Caldwell have been given the opportunity to become fully professional while preparing for the Games.
– I have to say that I appreciate that team. They have several semi-professionals, are coming to the Games for the first time and are building their game from the ground up, even at a terrible risk. In their match against Norway, they already pressed wildly high, without it even working, leaving big spaces for the opponent on almost every side, another studio expert Timo Furuholm described.
– Personally, I would hope that they would streamline their game, through which they would get second balls and free kicks to put pressure on Austria. They are playing ambitious football now, but maybe they should start thinking more about the result, he reflected on how the debutant side could improve their chances of success.