International soccer match Spain - Austria 1999

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The international soccer match between Spain and Austria took place on March 27, 1999 in Valencia as part of the qualification for the European Championship finals in the Netherlands and Belgium in 2000 . The game ended unexpectedly 9-0 for the Spaniards and was the highest defeat of the ÖFB selection in 91 years (1908, Vienna : Austria - England 1:11) and their highest defeat in an away game to date. After the game, team boss Herbert Prohaska resigned. The Austrian team finally missed - tied with Israel- due to the worse goal difference, the playoff games for the European Championship. The Spaniards, on the other hand, finished qualifying group 6 in first place, as expected.

prehistory

The Austrians, at that time leaders in their group a. a. ahead of the Spaniards and Israelis, based on the previous course of qualifications and results in friendly games (including a 2-2 in the home game against world champions France shortly after the World Cup) chances of winning the away game in Valencia.

Constellations

pairing SpainSpain Spain - AustriaAustriaAustria
Result 9-0
date March 27, 1999
Stadion Estadio Mestalla , Valencia
45,000 spectators
referee Gilles Veissière (France)
Gates 1-0 Raúl (6th), 2-0 Raúl (15th), 3-0 Urzaiz (27th), 4-0 Hierro / penalty (34th), 5-0 Urzaiz (45th), 6-0 Raúl (48th), 7-0 Raúl (75th), 8-0 Arnold Wetl / own goal (77th), 9-0 Fran (84th)
Warnings Christian Prosenik (10th), Anton Pfeffer (61st), Peter Schöttel (64th)
Spain Santiago Cañizares , Sergi Barjuán , Míchel Salgado , Marcelino Elena , Fernando Hierro , Juan Carlos Valerón (71st Gaizka Mendieta ), Pep Guardiola , Fran , Ismael Urzaiz (59th Pedro Munitis ), Raúl , Joseba Etxeberria (85th Dani )
Trainers: José Antonio Camacho
Austria Franz Wohlfahrt , Peter Schöttel , Anton Pfeffer , Günther Neukirchner , Wolfgang Feiersinger (54th Walter Kogler ), Arnold Wetl , Christian Prosenik (60th Hannes Reinmayr ), Roman Mählich , Harald Cerny , Andreas Herzog , Mario Haas (84th Christian Mayrleb )
Trainer: Herbert Prohaska


Course of the game

The young Spanish team around the veterans Hierro, Sergi, Guardiola and Raúl never gave the older Austrian team a chance. A goal from Raúl, who scored four goals, was not given because of offside. While the Spaniards missed other chances (including a shot from the post), on the other hand, the Spanish goalkeeper Cañizares had to intervene for the first time in the 50th minute. In addition to Raúl, Urzaiz met twice, as did Fran and Hierro (from penalties ). The Austrians scored an own goal in the second half (77th min.) Through Arnold Wetl.

Further course of qualification

Despite the defeat, Austria was still in the lead - the Spaniards were only in third place after the game and despite the high victory - and therefore still had every chance. The shame of Valencia obviously left its mark on the players, so that in the away game against EM qualifying competitor Israel, where Prohaska's successor Otto Barić was already in the coaching bench, they lost again with a 5-0 defeat . Due to the high negative goal difference, these two defeats should ultimately be decisive for missing the European Championship playoff games. For the ÖFB, ranked 17th in the FIFA world rankings in May 1999 , this historic game heralded the decade-long decline of the Austrian national soccer team, which only returned to sporting ways in September 2015 - 16 years after the international match in Valencia ( for the EURO 2008 you were automatically qualified as a host) should qualify for a final tournament: You qualified for participation in the 2016 European Championship finals in France , which was also the first qualification for participation in a European Championship finals.

This high success had no notable consequences for Spanish football. Although they finished the qualifying group in first place with a goal difference of +37, at the finals in the Netherlands and Belgium they were eliminated in the quarter-finals against eventual European champions France after mostly disappointing performances.

Others

Anton Pfeffer, who played on the side of the Austrians, answered the question of the ORF reporter Andreas Felber during the half-time break with a score of 0: 5 , "... what is still possible in the second half?" ".

After the game, Austrian goalkeeper Franz Wohlfahrt said: "With me in top form, it would have been 0: 8."

literature

  • Peter Linden / Karl H. Schwind: 100 Years of ÖFB - The Highlights of Austrian Football , Linde Verlag, 2004 (400 pages)

Footnotes

  1. ↑ http://www.weltfussball.at/spielbericht/em-qualifikation-1998-1999-gruppe-6-spanien-oesterreich/
  2. ↑ http://www.fussballdaten.de/em/2000/qualifikation/gruppe6//
  3. ↑ http://www.em-blogger.at/index.php/2007/04/11/spruch-des-tages-und-die-gute-alte-zeit-spanien-oesterreich-90-in-valencia/
  4. ↑ http://www.em-blogger.at/index.php/2007/04/11/spruch-des-tages-und-die-gute-alte-zeit-spanien-oesterreich-90-in-valencia/

Web links