The 2: 5 before the beginning of September in Haifa “was extremely painful,” said the 17-time international and six-time goalscorer on Tuesday in the team camp. “We still have a bill with them. We will settle it on Friday. ”Baumgartner is not worried about the ÖFB team. “I believe that we have an enormous quality.” It is important to bring that onto the pitch against Israel.
According to the Hoffenheim legionnaire, there is currently a lack of constancy. In addition to the mistakes in the build-up of the game, Baumgartner recently missed the impact on the offensive. “We were partly lacking the last bit of conviction. You don’t get 50 or 20 situations. You have to play out the five or six that you get purposefully. ”You have to develop the self-confidence for this.
“Want to raise the mood for play-off games”
As for the mood among the Austrian fans, which was at least in need of improvement, he took responsibility for himself and his colleagues: “It can go very quickly in both directions, but we are responsible for it.” the World Cup play-off at the end of March in mind. “We have to do everything we can to ensure that we can perform the way we all imagine. We want to raise the mood in the country and in the group. “
In the play-off semi-finals you would be an outsider away from home. Baumgartner doesn’t care about the paper form. “It is important that you are just there on day X. If we can do that, I am confident that we can beat a lot of teams in Europe. ”The ÖFB team wants to regain their self-confidence with wins against Israel and Moldova.
According to Baumgartner, the players are also qualifying for the March showdown. “Everyone wants to recommend themselves.” The 22-year-old seems to have been the shooting star of the past year. He missed the October games due to a muscle injury, after which the coronavirus caught him. “Thank God I didn’t have anything.” The seven-day break from training due to the home quarantine would only have set him back slightly. “Physically it wasn’t that wild for me.”
Dragovic also “in top shape” after CoV infection
This was also reported by Dragovic, who was also vaccinated. He only temporarily lost smell and taste. “I was lucky that there were no other symptoms. I’m in top shape. ”However, the infection ensured that the defender missed an ÖFB course for health reasons for the first time in more than ten years. “That hurt me a lot. But we are in the pandemic, now it has caught me too. “
With 96 international matches, Dragovic is already number two in the all-time ÖFB ranking behind Andreas Herzog (103). The veteran has scored two goals for Austria so far, and this season alone there are three for Red Star Belgrade. “It’s going really well at the moment.” The 30-year-old Viennese with Serbian roots will benefit from the standard training at his new club under the former Inter-Milan star Dejan Stankovic.
Dragovic wants to take the self-confidence with him to the national team. “We need another sense of achievement over one, two, three games,” he said. “We conceded goals that were too easy and need too many chances – we lack the ease.” Not everything was perfect at the European Championships either – and they were successful. “It’s not all bad now either. We mustn’t throw everything over our heads, we have to keep calm. I know how much potential there is in the team. “
“Know that we have something to make up for”
The long-running favorite is aware that the job of team boss Franco Foda is also at stake. “I know that football is a sport for results and that the coach always has to turn his head at the end of the day.” Foda always gives 100 percent and tries to improve the team. “But we are the main actors on the pitch. We screwed it up in the last few games. We know we have something to make up for. “
The main goal against Israel is to get the strikers Munas Dabbur and Eran Sahavi under control. Sahavi has scored no less than six goals in the last three duels against Austria. “I also did my part with my mistake in Israel”, Dragovic recalled the 2: 5 in September. “We have to see that we minimize our mistakes.”
