ÖFB goal scorer reveals:

“I had to earn respect first”

Eileen Campbell has now become an integral part of the ÖFB team.

(Bild: GEPA pictures)

This Friday, Austria's women's soccer team will face Poland in Altach. One player who will be particularly motivated in this European Championship qualifier is local hero Eileen Campbell. She spoke to the "Krone" about how comfortable she now feels in the team and why it wasn't so easy for her at the beginning.

"No problem, as long as it's not a leg injury," grinned Eileen Campbell after she had to be treated for a bleeding thumb on her right hand during yesterday's training in the picturesque Montafon mountains. "It tore my nail off during the handover in the relay race." A painful but harmless incident that did not affect the 23-year-old's performance in the midsummer temperatures - and in no way jeopardizes her participation in the European Championship qualifier against Poland on Friday (18) in Altach.

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Anticipation is high, especially as the SC Freiburg striker - who made her ÖFB debut in November 2022 - now feels really at home in the team. "It wasn't so easy at first because the girls already knew each other. I had to earn their respect first," reveals Eileen, who managed to do so very quickly thanks to her goals. The Feldkirch native was already the most successful red-white-red goalscorer in the UEFA Nations League and has also scored four of the seven ÖFB goals so far in the current European Championship qualifiers.

Campbell, who spent her vacation in Austria with friends and family, also wants to score against Poland on Friday. "It's something very special for me to be able to play in Altach," reveals Eileen, who had laced up her boots for the Rheindörfler until the end of 2023. "Otherwise, the games with the national team are always a bit further away - grandma and grandpa don't tend to be there."