A lot could have been imagined when ÖFB team boss Ralf Rangnick made his debut. Nobody would have thought that Austria’s national soccer team would win away against runners-up Croatia 3-0 (1-0) and that the 18,000 fans in Osijek would salute their own team with whistles. Of course you have to keep the ball flat – because the 3-0 lead that the ÖFB selection had shot out after 57 minutes did not correspond to the balance of power.
The handwriting of neo-team boss Rangnick was clearly visible right from the start. The 3-5-2 system didn’t come as a surprise, but the use of Andreas Weimann on the left and Karim Onisiwo as a second striker did. The ÖFB team acted much more compactly and with more stamina than last – you could tell that the players played at the attack from the start, despite the midsummer conditions.
Rangnick’s handwriting
The pressing line from which opponents were attacked was significantly higher. The midfielders attacked early – and visibly uncomfortable for the opponent. Behind them, the strong three-man defense – for the first time with the trio of Kevin Danso, Gernot Trauner and Maximilian Wöber – still had slight coordination problems at the beginning. Danso in particular seemed vulnerable.
Above all, the Croatians relied on their individual class – even if superstar Luka Modric initially only sat on the bench. If there was space in a one-on-one or after one of the precise diagonal passes, the Upper Austrian goalkeeper Heinz Lindner was there. He held against Pasalic (19′) and Kramaric (30′) – and was lucky when Stefan Lainer almost scored an own goal (8′).
But Austria’s team acted as a real unit. The collective defensive behavior and also the switching moments got better from minute to minute – and also rewarded with the 1:0. A short start from Marko Arnautovic, some space and a well-placed shot from the edge of the penalty area meant the 1-0 lead (41st).
Already at half-time, the neo-team boss changed for the first time – and switched to a four-man defense. This increased access in midfield and relieved the outside players. Arnautovic, Onisiwo and Lainer gave way to Michael Gregoritsch, Nicolas Seiwald and Clemens Trimmel. The pressing didn’t change in the new formation either, but suddenly there were more chances.
double whammy to decide
Gregoritsch’s shot only “starved” after he had run towards the goal alone. Three minutes later he did better – after a wonderful assist from Wöber, the Styrian converted directly (54th). And when Marcel Sabitzer made it 3-0 180 seconds later, the Croatian fans even whistled at their own team (57′).
After that, it was due to the compact team performance of the ÖFB selection that there was only real applause when Modric came on. The ÖFB team, which had made an impressive start to the “Rangnick era”, deserved the greatest applause. “Ladies and gentlemen, we congratulate Austria,” said the stadium announcer after the final whistle. “I wasn’t satisfied at all with the first half hour, the rest looked like football,” Rangnick summed up. “It was a good start.”
ÖFB defender Wöber was overjoyed. “It was a really, really good performance. I think that’s how everyone in Austria imagines the national team, that we can keep up with the best,” emphasized the Salzburg player.
Denmark beat the world champion
On Monday (8.45 p.m.) the red-white-red team will face EURO semi-finalists Denmark for the third time in 14 months in the second act of the UEFA Nations League. The two most recent defeats in the World Cup qualifiers (0:4/h, 0:1/a) do not affect Ralf Rangnick, who will celebrate his home debut on the bench.
“Stats are there to change. We’re the clear underdog, but that makes it even more interesting,” said the 63-year-old German, who was then to have Champions League triumphant David Alaba (Real Madrid) available for the first time.
On Friday, the Danes were in action in Saint-Denis and beat the reigning world champions France, who will play in Vienna next Friday, 2-1 (0-0). “We’re on the right track,” said Denmark’s team manager Kasper Hjulmand, who set up Christian Eriksen, who had collapsed at the EURO, from the start. But the match winner was “Joker” Andreas Cornelius (68th, 89th).
Source: Nachrichten
