Djuricin completed Austria’s comeback in the 65th minute with his first touch of the ball, after Andreas Gruber (36′) had leveled out Wolfsberg’s early lead from Thorsten Röcher (16′). “It’s the best there is as a striker. I haven’t had that for a long time, with the first contact with the ball directly on the goal”, the match winner was happy about his first goal of the season in the second game after those seven minutes in the 2-1 win over WSG Tirol last week.
A few weeks ago, the 29-year-old wasted no thoughts on goals and victories. Because a severe myocarditis after a coronavirus infection put the scorer out of action in the summer. Djuricin was doomed to do nothing for three weeks during the season break, “I’ve never had that in my life,” said the striker, for whom the diagnosis of myocarditis was “of course a shock” and “not an easy time” like the one in the Austria’s most successful goal scorer in the past season. “I had a lot of tests. It wasn’t easy, but I stayed positive.”
Austria beats the WAC
Wiener Austria won the basement duel at Pellets WAC and thus handed over the red lantern to the Carinthians after five rounds in the Admiral Bundesliga.
Against his favorite opponent WAC, Djuricin now rewarded himself after his personal suffering. It was his sixth goal for Austria in the eighth game against the Carinthians. The Viennese could not answer why it worked so well against Wolfsberger. “I have no idea, I probably like Carinthia,” said Djuricin and laughed. Only a few seconds after being substituted on, the Viennese pushed the ball over the line after receiving a pass from Andreas Gruber, who also scored on Sunday. “But I also screamed at him extremely hysterically, he heard me well.”
“Substitution wasn’t so bad”
Coach Manfred Schmid’s team turned the game around in Wolfsberg and celebrated their second league win in a row after beating WSG Tirol 2-1. With four points, the “Violets” are no longer at the bottom of the table for the first time this season. Schmid was also happy about his golden hands. “The substitution wasn’t that bad. Of course I knew that Marco had the quality, he shows me that again and again in training,” he emphasized.
And Schmid still sees potential in his goalscorer. “Marco is a player who could do much, much more once he was really fit,” said the coach. In general, Schmid was satisfied after the “game at eye level”, his team also gave the red lantern to the opponent. “It was a situation that never bothered me,” emphasized Schmid. The coach “never doubted” that his Austria would soon be able to “get away from there”. Despite an “unnecessary” defeat against Altach, the Viennese have already collected seven points. That is “really good”.
WAC mentally with Molde
While Austria is now looking forward to the match in Istanbul at Fenerbahce that Djuricin called a “bonus game” and can only surprise after the 0: 2 in the first leg of the Europa League play-off, the WAC is in a bit of emotional chaos. “Of course, as WAC we don’t want to be bottom of the table after five matchdays,” emphasized coach Robin Dutt: “Of course we’re very dissatisfied. We aspire to play in the champions group.”
In the league, the Dutt-Elf has not yet got going with two points, but in the European Cup on Thursday the “million final” against the Norwegian leaders Molde FK, which is so important for the club budget, is on the program. “It’s so important for all of us from a mental, sporting and economic point of view,” said the German. After the surprising 1-0 in the first leg, the “absolute focus” is now on the second leg, it’s only about 90 minutes “to get this lead into the group phase”.
That’s why, according to Dutt, there are currently “a few emotional worlds that we have to live through” at the WAC. First the European Cup game, then the “manual” work with the team on various weak points. Now the motto is to clear your head, not to downplay the current situation in the table, but still stay positive. “I have the experience to strike the right note,” emphasized Dutt.
