The "crown" in Qatar

Soccer heroes shed tears of disappointment

Portugal cheers, Austria cries: Our U17 heroes gave their all, but in the end it just wasn't enough for the trophy. "Krone" reporter Lukas Schneider (center) was at the final directly in Qatar.(Bild: Krone KREATIV/AP/Hussein Sayed, Lukas Schneider/Kronen Zeitung)

Austria lost the U17 World Cup final in Doha against Portugal with 0:1 - afterwards our soccer heroes shed tears of disappointment, also because of the bad luck with the bar shot of Joker Frauscher in the hot final. "Krone" reporter Lukas Schneider reports on the final directly from Qatar.

The "Krone" reports from Qatar

Before the game, Austria's midfield ace Vasilije Markovic said: "Portugal are certainly a good opponent, but we don't have to be afraid of anyone. It's been an incredible World Cup so far, the goal now is of course the title."

But the ball was in the net after 13 minutes at the Khalifa International Stadium in Doha. But because Portugal's Duarte Cunha had fouled Austria defender Florian Hofmann, the goal did not count. At the other end, Hasan Deshishku and Johannes Moser had a triple chance immediately afterwards - but all three shots were blocked.

Golden goal from Anisio
The two teams then neutralized each other before Portugal took the lead after a fine combination. Duarte Cunha played a pinpoint pass to Anisio Cabral, who was left alone by Rafael Feldinger and scored his seventh goal of the tournament from close range (31').

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It was the first goal conceded in the knockout phase for Hermann Stadler's team following victories against Tunisia (2-0), England (4-0), Japan (1-0) and Italy (2-0). At half-time, ÖFB sports director Peter Schöttel said: "We have to be even more determined in the second half. Then something is still possible." And Austria got off to an energetic start after the restart. A free-kick from Deshishku and a volley from Nicolas Jozepovic immediately created danger.

Opponents slightly better
After that, Portugal were only visible in attack with a header from Mateus Mide. But Austria only managed to shake their opponents' bulwark at the end. A header from Ndukwe was deflected over the bar by Portugal goalkeeper Cunha (82').

ÖFB President Josef Pröll with FIFA President Gianni Infantino and State Secretary Michaela Schmidt (from left) at the final in Qatar.(Bild: ÖFB)

 Then came Daniel Frauscher's big performance. The substitute joker actually did everything right with his first action, elegantly outpacing an opponent and shooting precisely and hard. But the ball bounced back off the inside of the bar (85'). A shot from substitute Julian Halmich was also blocked.

In the end, it was Portugal who were the slightly better and cleverer team. Austria's players, who can be very proud of what they have achieved, shed tears of disappointment after missing out on the World Cup title.