Victory over France

U21 gives Gregoritsch a nice farewell present

Austria's U21 national team has given its team boss Werner Gregoritsch a nice farewell present. The ÖFB youngsters won their final match of this European Championship qualifier against France 2-1 in Nancy on Tuesday with goals from Tobias Hedl (59) and Thierno Ballo (74). 

Even before this match, Austria, in third place in Group H, no longer had a chance of participating in the continental finals. Nevertheless, the visitors put in a passionate performance, as Gregoritsch had demanded. The five-man backline stood firm and they also had the best chance in the first half - Simon Seidl beat France goalkeeper Guillaume Restes, but his shot was cleared off the line by Tanguy Nianzou (37').

The 1:0 for the Austrians came from a counter-attack. Restes was only just able to deflect a shot from Angelo Gattermayer and Hedl dusted it off. The French then threw everything forward and were unlucky with a pole free-kick from Maghnes Akliouche (70').

Ballo scores at the second attempt
The ÖFB team created more and more space, which they finally exploited. Substitute Ballo went in alone on goal, first hit the bar and then tucked away the rebound. In the 85th minute, Seidl missed the opportunity to score Austria's third goal when he failed to beat Restes from close range. This almost proved to be the last straw, as France came close again through Arnaud Kalimuendo (86') after a mistake by Leopold Querfeld.

However, the home side's final offensive was unsuccessful, meaning that the Austrians also won their second duel with the French in this qualifier. Nevertheless, they finished the group in third place with 15 points behind Slovenia (17) and "Les Bleus" (16). Gregoritsch steps down after almost 13 years and 115 games as U21 team manager.