March 22, 2013: World Cup 2014 Qualifier, Group C:
Austria – Faroe Islands 6-0 (3-0)
08' 1-0 Philipp Hosnier
20' 2-0 Philipp Hosnier
28' 3-0 Andreas Ivanschitz
77' 4-0 Zlatko Junuzović
78' 5-0 David Alaba
82' 6-0 György Garics
The Faroe Islands had only goalkeeper Gunnar Nielsen to thank that they didn’t go behind in the 1st minute of the game when he blocked the shot from a clear Philipp Hosiner who had come in from an angle.
Five minutes later it was again Nielsen who kept Austria at bay with an outstanding save when Hosnier had been played clear again.
But in the eight minute there was nothing Nielsen could do when Austria took the lead after a low cross from the left to Hosnier in front of goal to slot home.
Austria could have added to their tally before they did in the 20th minute when last man defender Odmar Færø made a terrible blunder as he mis-hit his header to allow Hosnier to get one-on-one with Nielsen whom he rounded for an easy finish.
Austria was having it ever so easy as the Faroese team was all over the place and made countless of errors, and were constantly threatening to score.
After some near-misses, Austria made it 3-0 when midfielder Fróði Benjaminsen gave away the ball shortly outside the Faroese penalty area where Andreas Ivanschitz picked it up to coolly and precisely place it just inside the post and out of reach of Nielsen.
Although the Faroese display was somewhat better from the start of the second half, Austria still created chances at will almost, and after 51 minutes David Alaba got clear a bit to the left, but this time the shot bounced off the crossbar.
On the hour Austria went close again, but a double save from Nielsen saved the blushes – but only for now.
Because in 5 lacklustre minutes, Austria went from 3-0 to 6-0 from the 77th to the 82nd minutes.
First it was Zlatko Junuzović who made it 4-0 with a low diagonal drive, and the following minute Alaba slotted home from a free position to make it 5-0 following a counterattack where the Faroes carelessly had given away the ball high up on the Austrian half.
And it became 6-0 in the 82nd minute when Nielsen made a terrible blunder to let György Garics’ shot from long distance to go in.
The stats after the match summed up the story quite well with 28 Austrian attempts against 2 Faroese – and those two were not especially dangerous attempts.
This was the Faroe Islands’ heaviest defeat since 2007, when they were beaten 6-0 by France at home at Tórsvøllur Stadium.