In the second game in the qualifying group of the Bundesliga, SV Guntamatic Ried is already under pressure: At home against Altach at the bottom (Josko-Arena, 5 p.m.), only one win counts for coach Robert Ibertsberger’s team today – not just for the to extend the lead over the Vorarlbergers, but also to avoid creating a major gap in the race for seventh place. The Innviertler also hope that their ailing points guarantor Leo Mikic will play: The 24-year-old Croatian scored six competitive goals – there was always something countable for the Vikings. This series is to be continued against Altach.
He has good memories of the country: Mikic came to Austria for FC Lustenau in 2018 – 38 goals in 43 games later he made the leap from the Vorarlberg league to Kapfenberg in the second division. After two seasons with the Styrians, his rise continued in the summer of 2021 with a move to the upper house to Ried. “When I decided to move from the third Croatian league to the state league in Lustenau, there was initially a lot of misunderstanding and everyone said that I was taking two steps backwards. In truth, however, I’ve made two steps forward there. Vorarlberg is beautiful , I felt very comfortable,” says Mikic.
Forward coach Daniel Madlener, who had Mikic under his wing in Lustenau, can also remember this. “He has extreme attacking qualities. I’ve always compared his style of play to Lionel Messi,” says Madlener with a smile. Ibertsberger can also report this: “Off the field he is very calm, but on the field he is a different person. He literally explodes there.”
A life for football
Mikic subordinated everything to his dream of becoming a professional soccer player at an early age: he dropped out of school at the age of 16 and put his full focus on the sport. “The leap to professional status didn’t work out in Croatia – which is why I kept asking myself afterwards why I didn’t make the journey to Austria much earlier,” says Mikic.
The wait was worth it: Ried’s magic mouse has arrived in a first league – and wants more: “I’m living my best time in Austria right now. It’s my first season in the top league, I’m satisfied. But I’m very ambitious, I’m not yet at the limit and I know that more is possible.” He wants to show that again today against Altach.
Source: Nachrichten
