Big welcome party
Here in LIVESTREAM: The reception for our U17 heroes
Two days after losing the World Cup final 1-0 to Portugal in Doha, Austria's U17 national team had a big welcome party at the ÖFB-Campus in Vienna-Aspern. Johannes Moser, Jakob Pokorny and Co. were celebrated once again in front of almost 1,000 fans in the small stadium, with the head of the federation offering words of praise beforehand. ÖFB Supervisory Board Chairman Josef Pröll, for example, spoke of a "great moment for Austrian soccer". And: "Nobody can take these experiences away from us," said captain Jakob Pokorny.
At the ceremony, first the members of the coaching staff and then the players were invited to the stage one by one, honored by Pröll, Vice-Chancellor Andreas Babler and ÖFB Sports Director Peter Schöttel and presented with a crystal trophy in recognition. The one-hour event concluded with a joint singing of Rainhard Fendrich's "I am from Austria". Prior to this, Babler had already announced that he would nominate team boss Hermann Stadler for the Republic of Austria's Medal of Merit.
Stadler was just as moved by this as he was by the experiences of the past few weeks. "It is unique how the team has performed on and off the pitch - actually atypically Austrian," said the Salzburg native. "They have never been satisfied with the first wins, but have always said that this is not the end of the line."
The 64-year-old has worked for the ÖFB for around two decades and has coached several junior national teams during this time. "I've had the pleasure of accompanying many good players. They were all good individual players, but the difference was that this team enchanted me day after day with the way they approached these games. Even as an old hand, I was able to learn something from the lads."
Pokorny: "I graduated in five days"
Now it's time for the players to learn the right lessons from their World Cup adventure, emphasized Stadler. "Everything that has been thrown at them is enormous for 17-year-olds. Now they have to serve as role models at their clubs and continue to work hard on themselves." A large part of the team will move to the U18s, who will later compete for the U19 European Championships. It remains to be seen whether this squad will be coached by Stadler, who is now looking forward to spending the next few days with his grandchildren. "And then it's time to analyze." For captain Pokorny, the Matura is already on the program on Thursday. The defender completed regular training sessions for this in Doha, where he gained some memorable experiences. "This will stay with us for life, nobody can take it away from us," said Pokorny.
Moser still has to wait a little longer for his school-leaving certificate, but at least he already has it. The attacking player had the trophies for the World Cup top scorer and second-best player of the tournament in his luggage on his return flight from Doha to Budapest on Saturday. "They briefly asked me at customs if I had any weapons with me," Moser said with a smile.
Moser: Personal awards "product of the team"
He owes his trophies to the team, emphasized the Carinthian. "An individual award is not the product of individual performance, but of the team's performance." The head of the association, Pröll, was also impressed by the U17 players because of statements like this. "I have rarely felt such determination and focus from such young players." He added that the enthusiasm surrounding this squad would be used for several projects in the area of children's soccer. "There's a lot in the pipeline," said Pröll.
ÖFB sports director Peter Schöttel described the U17 vice world champions as a "role model for all other age groups". Their great trump card was their high individual class and team spirit. "It is often said that you are a family, a unit, but in this case it really was like that." Schöttel appealed to the players to keep working hard so that they can gain a foothold in the professional game. "It was great, but it was still soccer against players of the same age."
Sebastian Prödl accompanied the U17s in Doha in his capacity as sporting director of the ÖFB national youth teams and was also impressed. "They always wanted to learn and saw every success as proof, but not as a win." Prödl, who captained the ÖFB Under-20 team to fourth place at the 2007 World Cup, said that the 4-0 round of 16 victory over England had solidified the idea that they could go very far. "I'm very happy that they have trumped that success."
U17 heroes must face competition
The Styrian promised that they would continue to try to provide the best possible support for the World Cup players and "consolidate individual rungs on their career ladders". However, it was also clear: "The further up you go, the greater the competition will be."
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