Rapids Leopold Querfeld advanced the Austrians in the 25th minute and after Marko Lazetic equalized (44th) with his second goal (56th) also ensured the lead again. Lukas Wallner (66th) then closed the sack. Rapids offensive player Yusuf Demir was involved in all three goals, and a corner kick from the ex-FC Barcelona kicker was the starting point of the action. “It was not only a victory of will, but also of the rehearsed standard situations. It’s a trademark of ours,” said Scherb in an ORF interview.
Petar Ratkov’s goal (88′) came too late. After the opening 0:2 against the flawless group winners England and the bitter 2:4 against Israel, there was a sense of achievement for the ÖFB squad. They overtook Serbia (1) and ended up one point behind Israel (4). “I’m pretty exhausted, it’s very tough. The last few days have been very intense, we’ve talked a lot, analyzed a lot and done well,” said Scherb. The Israelis secured second place in the semi-finals and will face France, while England will face Italy. The games will take place like the play-off on Tuesday.
Scherb made three changes compared to the Israel game. Leonardo Ivkic, Benjamin Kanuric and Jakob Knollmüller replaced Florian Wustinger, Dominik Weixelbraun and Onurhan Babuscu in the starting XI. Knollmüller was also involved in the first good move, fought for the ball in his own half and finally shot wide of the far post (6′). On the other side, Ognjen Ajdar posed a threat for the first time, but missed the goal by a wide margin (17′).
Demir often acted as the foremost striker, his shot from 17 meters out was saved for a corner (24′). This resulted in the lead hit in a rapid combination. Querfeld rose highest in the middle and hit a head from less than five meters. Kanuric could have followed up, but shot wide (42′). Nothing indicated an equalizer, but it fell anyway. After a Knezevic cross, Ajdar didn’t get the shot right, but served it well to Lazetic, who only had to complete it from close range. It almost got even worse, Elias Scherf parried an Ajdar outside of the foot finish (45 + 2).
After the restart, the ÖFB juniors were much more efficient and continued to be strong after corners. Querfeld happily got the ball in the penalty area, failed in the first attempt by Ognjen Lukic, but converted it confidently via a dust collector. “It’s definitely something special. I can’t remember the last time I scored two goals, I had to wait a long time for one too,” said Querfeld.
In the 66th minute it was Wallner who was happily served and also showed his header qualities. The Austrians also gave their coach a belated gift on the occasion of his 53rd birthday last Thursday. Austria is now fighting for its fifth participation in a U20 World Cup after 1983 (Mexico), 2007 (Canada/place four), 2011 (Colombia) and 2015 (New Zealand). “We can take the momentum with us. We’re happy about the win and won’t think about the play-off until tomorrow,” said Scherb.