Fox: “If we go into the flow, there’s a lot in it”
The ÖFB U19 ladies can expect the hammer group at the European Championship finals in Belgium with Germany and the Netherlands as hosts. Captain Lainie Fuchs is in good spirits before she dares to jump across the pond herself. In 2024, she would like to stay in Colombia for a while.
Lainie Fuchs at the ‘OFB Summit’ last summer.
GEPA photo/Gintare Karpaviciute
One of the magical moments of European Championship qualifiers was when the ÖFB U-19 women in Israel performed the “flag-waving” dance in the hotel yard for the first time in public. Gradually the windows of the room opened, and the Israelis and the Germans watched in amazement. “When we finished, a player came up to me and said, ‘Thank you, coach, and now we’re going to beat the Germans,'” he revealed. Team boss Hannes Spilka in an interview with Kicker.
All said and done, Austria beat Germany (2-1) and even qualified to win the group. Fortunately, he met the captain Lynn Fox And her teammates in the finals of Belgium at the start of the day on Tuesday in a row to Germany (15:30 straight! In kicker). Will the ÖFB girls dance again to revitalize? “Of course, this became a ritual for us,” says Fox. Great spirit characterizes the band. “For me, our courses always feel like coming home to a second family,” says Fox.
U-19 Women’s Championship – Group Stage
After two training camps in Windischgarsten and Illmitz focusing on athletics and tactics, the Austrians set off for Belgium on Saturday, with plenty of self-confidence in their baggage, which they also gained with away victories in England (2:1) and in Italy (2:1) worked out. “When we start flowing, there’s so much more in it. Of course, we have to stay humble and totally focused so we can be called out for everything at all times,” Fox knows.
Become a tiger wolf fox
A long season is coming to an end for Fox in Belgium. She won the domestic double with SKN Women and was a regular in the UEFA Champions League with “Wolves”. In the fall, the BORG competitive sports grad dares himself to jump across the pond and will study Film and Media Studies in Pittsburgh and play for the Panthers in the top college league.
“Football remains very important to me. I can take my next step here in Pittsburgh, especially when it comes to athletics, which Coach Randy Waldrum is focusing on along with technical skills,” says Fox. Americans and Canadians make up the core of the team. In addition to Fuchs, the Panthers squad currently includes England’s Evie Craven (from Manchester City’s U20 squad) and Deborah Ajibola Abiodun, who will be at the World Cup finals in Australia and New Zealand with Nigeria next week.
Becoming a professional player remains the main goal of the Korneuburg native, who lives in Vienna until now. If possible, Fuchs wants to complete her studies after three and a half years (instead of the usual four).
The semi-finals will be ‘wonderful in many ways’
First of all, Fuchs and Co have to score points for the first time in the European Under-19 Women’s Championship with the ÖFB team. In Austria’s only participation so far (2016 in Slovakia), Katarina Nauschenwing (currently Bayern Munich), Barbara Dunst (Eintrache Frankfurt), Marina Georgieva (Paris Saint-Germain) and co, led by Irene Fuhrmann, did not succeed.
The two group winners qualify for the European Championship semi-finals and simultaneously the U-20 Women’s World Cup in Colombia in 2024. “Of course that would be great for me in many ways,” laughs Fox. Then the 24-time U-19 player is sure to see her “second family” again soon.
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