David Alaba has had a year of ups and downs. The latest events also fit in with this. On Tuesday, the international tested positive for the corona virus for the second time and was not available to Spanish league leaders Real Madrid when they played in Bilbao. Yesterday the Austria Press Agency (APA) announced that Alaba was chosen as Austria’s footballer of the year 2021 in the election it carried out among the twelve Bundesliga coaches.
The team captain prevailed with 44 points, clearly ahead of Salzburg striker Karim Adeyemi (25) and Christoph Baumgartner from TSG Hoffenheim (8). Alaba has won this title for the eighth time – and more often than anyone else. “Pursuer” Ivica Vastic came up with four trophies.
“It’s an incredibly beautiful award, I’m very grateful for it. That is very important to me,” emphasized the 28-year-old. LASK coach Andreas Wieland did not have Alaba on the slip, his number one was Feyenoord legionnaire and ex-athlete Gernot Trauner, followed by Florian Grillitsch (Hoffenheim) and Adeyemi. Interim head coach Christian Heinle voted for SV Guntamatic Ried. He saw Baumgartner ahead of Bayern legionnaire Marcel Sabitzer and Rapid striker Marco Grüll (formerly SV Ried).
Alaba can live with any vote, he sees the big picture. “I had an incredibly beautiful last season at Bayern. With a bit of luck, I would have even made more than the round of 16 at the EURO. The World Cup qualification was very bitter, we imagined it differently. But failures also bring me as a player and keep going. “
Source: Nachrichten
