KURIER Interview with Austria Coach Alexander Schriebl

Focus: Women in Football 2026

As part of our “Focus: Women in Football” campaign, we are delighted to be partnering with Kurier to further increase the visibility of women in football and bring key topics to an even wider audience.

With the kind permission of Kurier, we are publishing here the interview with ÖFB (Austrian Football Association) women’s head coach Alexander Schriebl, in which he talks about the development of the national team, its sporting goals and the challenges on the road to World Cup qualification.

You can read the full original article here on the Kurier website.

The highlight of our “Focus: Women in Football” campaign is “Women in Football – The Talk”, which takes place for the third time in 2026. It focuses on current developments, existing structural hurdles and concrete starting points for clubs, associations and education – followed by an open exchange and networking. Get your free tickets here.

One year as ÖFB head coach: “Against stronger teams we need a plan B”

By: Karoline Krause-Sandner, KURIER

They say it takes a year to settle into a new job. On 21 January 2025, Alexander Schriebl, previously coach of FC Bergheim, succeeded Irene Fuhrmann as head coach of the ÖFB women’s team. In KURIER, he looks back and ahead.

Have you settled into the job?

Yes. You know the processes, you know the players. At the beginning it was very challenging. There was little time to get going; it was all about results straight away. The year went by quickly. Only in December, after the training camp and friendlies, was there some time to catch my breath and look back.

What has improved over the year?

I’m very happy with the start. And with many of the matches, even if not always with the results. We had huge challenges, such as the injuries before the play-offs – it was really great how the players coped with that. First we had to find ourselves: how we want to play, our new direction, creating an identity – a style of football that people recognise.

This style of play has also revealed challenges. The high intensity, for example. How can you as head coach make sure the intense game is sustained for 90 minutes?

First and foremost, you need the players’ commitment. That was there from the start. Improving physically is something the players have to take on themselves – with support from our athletic performance department, too. With our style of play, we can control opponents at a similar level to ours, and sometimes dominate them. Against stronger teams, we realised that we need a plan B.

What is plan B?

Perhaps a different basic formation, shifting the pressing lines. But when we have the ball, we still want to play our game as quickly as possible and get forward again.

How can you counter the early weaknesses in build-up play?

The question is where you want to build up play. It doesn’t always have to be in front of your own goal. We created a lot of chances, even if they didn’t always lead to a goal. And if no goal comes, the chance is quickly forgotten. I don’t believe we win matches by being good in the build-up, but in what follows – and above all in our play without the ball.

What about commitment and mental strength in the team?

There’s certainly no lack of that! Everything just takes its time. Because of the many injuries, we lost almost 500 caps’ worth of experience in a very short time. The “spine” of the team was gone – Manuela Zinsberger, Sarah Zadrazil, and then Marie Höbinger and Lilli Purtscheller as well. Suddenly you are in a situation where others have to step up overnight.

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You mentioned finishing. Does the team lack a “killer instinct”?

That’s the extra work professionals do. Each player can only work on that herself. Sometimes you only get one or two chances in a match, and then it should work. And if it doesn’t, you start overthinking. As a coaching team, we don’t focus on the chances not being taken, but on the fact that we created them. Of course it would be nice if we scored from every chance. But maybe that’s not who we are. Maybe we need to work on creating that one extra chance. And if we defend well, that will be enough.

Do you have the right players – and enough of them – for your style of play?

We definitely have the right ones. That was clear to me from the start. When everyone is fit, we definitely have enough, too.

Is enough talent coming through? Is Austria doing enough for women’s football?

Big steps are being taken. We should become more professional and need to bring more girls into football. That’s where we are taking steps with the ÖFB and the women’s academy. In the Bundesliga, the traditional clubs are gaining more and more momentum, which is good for women’s football in general.

Where does Austrian women’s football stand internationally?

Catching up with the top nations will be difficult. We have to fight to hold our position. Countries behind us are investing too – I’m thinking of Poland and Finland. An U23 team would do us good, so that the jump to the first team isn’t so big. We need to promote the game and point out the things that are good. That way we can create new role models.

Focus: Women in Football | KURIER interview with Alexander Schriebl