Austria versus Germany in the quarter-finals of the European Football Championship: a classic, one would think.

But it isn't, not with women.

The two national teams only played against each other twice.

Stephen Lowenstein

Political correspondent based in Vienna.

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In Austria, women's football was a decade later than in Germany, the first international match took place in 1990, and initially it was more compared to neighbors of comparable size, such as Hungary or Switzerland.

The previous games against Germany took place in 2016 and 2018, both of which were lost respectably.

And yet the Austrians go into the duel with self-confidence on Thursday (9 p.m. in the FAZ live ticker for the European Football Championship, in ARD and on DAZN).

There are reasons for that.

Amazingly sovereign

The team has not only attracted positive attention in this tournament.

As early as 2017, when Austria was able to qualify for a women's European Championship finals for the first time, it made it to the semi-finals after a preliminary round, which it finished ahead of France (!).

That was the end of the penalty shoot-out against the Germany conquerors from Denmark.

This time they held up respectably against England (0-1), clearly won against Iceland (2-0) and defeated multiple European champions Norway with amazing ease (1-0).

"It was nice to show that 2017 wasn't a one-hit wonder," says trainer Irene Fuhrmann, then assistant trainer.

Dominant against Norway

The game on Friday evening was by no means a defensive battle against the Norwegian class forwards around Ada Hegerberg.

Especially the first half was dominated by the Austrians.

With luck they could have gotten an early penalty when centre-forward Nicole Billa smashed into the box and was pinched by two defenders.

A powerful, but actually too central long-range shot by Laura Feiersinger hit the crossbar because the Norwegian goalkeeper let it slip through her fingers.

The winning goal was Billa's headball, which was pushed into the far corner as usual.

The goalscorer, who had gone empty-handed in previous games, was named player of the day.

That was not undeserved, but it would have been justifiable to give the award to Verena Henshaw.

The full-back not only gave the precise cross, but also stood out with her tackle strength and presence all over the pitch, regardless of her formal marginal position.

In the second half, good chances were given away somewhat carelessly.

Norway only put pressure on towards the end of the game and created chances.

Goalkeeper Manuela Zinsberger was also able to prove herself, especially with an oblique shot that would have hit the left angle without her defense.

In general, the equally robust and agile defense is the cornerstone for the strong performances of the Austrians.

The bare results bear witness to this.

The defense does not only take place at the back.

However, the team is worried about captain Viktoria Schnaderbeck, who had to play through with pain in her knee, which has been operated on several times.

The Germans, who initially struggled to score goals against Finland, will hardly find it easier on Thursday.

Unknowns do not then meet, despite the short history of international matches.

14 players from the Austrian squad play in the German Bundesliga, above all Hoffenheim's Billa, 2021 top scorer and footballer of the year in both countries.

Fuhrmann raises expectations: "It's important that we're mentally fresh for 90 minutes, then we don't want to set any limits in this game either."

The local audience also took notice, the ORF recorded 839,000 viewers (about a tenth of the Austrian population).

The comments oscillate between self-confidence and derision, such as this one in the online portal of "Standard": "Can Germany surprise and defeat the EM semi-finalists of 2017?"