Sunday, September 5th, 2021
After a 2: 5 debacle against Israel
Austria’s frightened chicken pile
In the summer, Austria will be in the European Championship round of 16, where it will be unhappy against the eventual tournament winner Italy. In the first game after the break, the team of German coach Franco Foda goes down in Israel. “Very bitter,” says David Alaba. “Simply embarrassing,” says the Kronenzeitung.
“That is just embarrassing” – the verdict of the Kronenzeitung after the 2: 5 (1: 3) debacle of the Austrian national soccer team in Haifa against Israel was devastating. The paper compared the red-white-red selection with a “frightened pile of chickens”. The spirit of optimism after the first move into an EM round of 16 in the summer of 2021 has finally evaporated.
“Very bitter,” commented captain and ex-Bayern star David Alaba, “if you go home with 2: 5 and are the better team in the first half, something is wrong.” After the debacle, the team of the German coach Franco Foda in Group F slipped to fourth place.
The half-time balance after five games: two wins, one draw, two defeats, seven points. Only the football dwarfs Faroe Islands and Moldova (both 1 point) are worse. Leader of the table Denmark has already hurried away with all points (15), Israel on the play-off place with ten points is at least within reach. The holy defense around Martin Hinteregger from Frankfurt gives little hope. Eran Zahavi (33rd / 90th), Manor Solomon (5th), Hoffenheim’s Munas Dabbur (20th) and Shon Weissman (58th) relentlessly exposed the Austrians’ weaknesses. For the first four hits, Israel only had to shoot four times on goal.
Alaba conjures up the EM spirit
The ÖFB team, on the other hand, counted 19 shots on goal at the end, had numerous top-class chances, but was only successful through Hoffenheim’s Christoph Baumgartner (42nd) and ex-Bremer Marko Arnautovic (55th). The embarrassment is a low blow with announcement. Even before the EM in the summer, difficulties had emerged. In the 3-1 success in the World Cup qualifying against Faroe Islands, Alaba and Co. averted bankruptcy with a lot of effort, the bitter 4-0 defeat against Denmark immediately before the start of the European Championship was apparently a warning shot at the right time. The ÖFB selection reached the first EM round of 16 in the association’s history with great cohesion.
There was no trace in Haifa of the dreaded collective that almost knocked the eventual European champions Italy (2: 1 nV) out of the tournament. “We haven’t been able to create the atmosphere we had a few months ago in the past few days,” Alaba complained. On Tuesday (8.45 p.m.) the Austrians are already under great pressure against Scotland in Vienna’s Ernst Happel Stadium. Before the trend-setting duel, Alaba wants to conjure up the EM spirit. “We know that we can play more successfully,” emphasized Alaba: “We have already proven that many times.”
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