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2nd win in 2nd game ! Austria strong at U17 World Cup

The jubilant Austrians(Bild: ÖFB | Andreas Pichler)

Austria's U17 national soccer team has advanced to the knockout round of the World Cup in Qatar as group winners!

Team boss Hermann Stadler's side defeated Mali 3:0 (1:0) and celebrated their second win in their second match in Doha. Johannes Moser scored from the penalty spot (36'), Hasan Deshishku (61') and Nicolas Jozepovic (94') for the ÖFB team, who were outnumbered from the 57th minute onwards.

Before the round of 16, New Zealand, who have already been eliminated after a 3-2 defeat against Saudi Arabia, await on Tuesday. The highly-rated Malians were dangerous, but Austria missed the first compelling chances. Deshishku shot past the goal after Dominik Dobis was presented with a completely free shot (20').

Moser converts penalty safely
Dobis hit the outside of the net (23'), but a little later he skillfully took a penalty - as he had done against Saudi Arabia. Moser also converted it safely. The Mali coach had taken the so-called video challenge - a variation of the VAR - in vain.

Red for Mali's Samba Konare
After the break, Samba Konare recklessly tackled Dobis from behind and was initially shown a yellow card. Stadler's challenge was successful, however, and referee Steven Madrigal from Costa Rica decided on red after seeing the pictures (57').

Austria seized the momentum. Deshishku made it 2:0 from a switch after a short hook into the middle. After Jakob Werner hit the crossbar, Nicolas Jozepovic scored with his head in stoppage time to make it 3:0.

"Match plan perfectly implemented"
 Team boss Stadler gave "a huge compliment" to his players and the entire coaching team. "The way they prepared, how they made sure they were fit and how they implemented tactically and technically what we had planned was really outstanding. I'm extremely proud of the whole team - they executed the match plan perfectly from the first to the last minute."