Due to the coronavirus travel restrictions, his wife and two daughters were recently not allowed to stay with Arnautovic in China – his relatives have now moved with him to Bologna. “The change was primarily due to the family, I really wanted to be with my wife and children,” said Arnautovic. “I would like to express my thanks to Shanghai Port. I was treated very well there. But at some point it no longer works when you are separated from your family. “
According to Arnautovic, there were also sporting arguments in favor of the transfer to Italy. “It also had to do with the fact that I wanted to play in a top league again. Bologna really wanted me, I like the project, the team, the league. I was fully convinced that I would go to Bologna, play again in Europe and prove myself, “said the 32-year-old, and said that the transfer had taken” a lot of effort “.
“I’m close to 100 percent”
In his first three competitive games for the new club Arnautovic scored two goals, most recently he played through in a 0-0 draw against Champions League starters Atalanta Bergamo. In the cup, the out came against the second division side Ternana, but after the first two series A rounds, Bologna holds four points. “We have a young, hungry team. Our goal is to get into the top ten, ”said Arnautovic.
The attacker was still struggling with physical problems at the European Championships because he was late for team training due to a muscle injury. The situation has now improved. “My fitness is good, I’m close to 100 percent. I still have a few ailments, but they’ll go away at some point, ”said Arnautovic.
Trend-setting games for World Cup in Qatar
A good physical condition is important for the upcoming tasks, after all, in the World Cup qualification with the games on Wednesday in Chisinau against Moldova, on Saturday in Haifa against Israel and the following Tuesday (8.45 p.m., live on ORF1) in Vienna Against Scotland, three landmark internationals on the way to the finals in Qatar 2022 within seven days on the program. There is practically no time for real preparation, after all, the selection will fly to Chisinau on Tuesday.
“But we know each other as a team, we know what our qualities are. I don’t think it’ll take us many days to settle in. It’s all automatic. ”Arnautovic said nothing more could be bought from the successful EM performance. “The good performances at the EM are nice, but we can forget them again. Now comes the World Cup qualification. ”In Group F, the gap to Leader Denmark is already five points, only the first qualifies directly for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. “I didn’t look at the table that much. I just know that we have to win the three games, then we’ll be completely in again, ”said Arnautovic.
“Now those who are here have to fix it”
In view of the tense personnel situation, nine points should not be an easy undertaking. Julian Baumgartliner, Sasa Kalajdzic, Stefan Lainer and Xaver Schlager will be missing, Bayern-Munich newcomer Marcel Sabitzer is an issue for Scotland at best. “Regardless of whether you are a regular, key player or not – every failure hurts. Now those who are here have to fix it, ”said Arnautovic.
The Viennese currently have 91 international matches. Gerhard Hanappi, fourth in the all-time ÖFB rankings, is only two games away. In addition, Arnautovic is only one goal behind the third Marc Janko, Erich Hof and Johann Horvath with 27 goals. “But records are not important to me at all. It is important to me that the team is successful and that I can help them to qualify for the World Cup. We’ve been to a European Championship twice, now we want to qualify for the really, really big stage, ”said Arnautovic.
