After the historic start in Bratislava – Christoph Baumgartner scored after 6.3 seconds, faster than any player in a men’s international match – Austria, despite a perfect start against the number 48 in the world, made life difficult for itself, but won on But it ended relatively confidently with 2-0 – and without conceding a goal for the fourth time in a row.
“In the past, a game like this might have ended in a draw, so we have taken steps forward,” said Baumgartner, saying there has already been an improvement in this regard. But overall, expectations have shifted upwards in the Rangnick era, especially those of the players. Captain Marcel Sabitzer kept the ball low after the 2-0 win against Germany in November, knowing that the 2016 European Championships had ended in failure for Austria after great euphoria.
ÖFB team starts the European Championship year successfully
With a historic record goal from Christoph Baumgartner after just 6.3 seconds and a second goal from Andreas Weimann, the team celebrates victory in the friendly over Slovakia.
“The boys can judge for themselves how their performance is. “They also deal with the situation honestly,” Rangnick is not surprised, but also sees it as it was in Bratislava. “It wasn’t a good first half, apart from the first few seconds.”
First “room for improvement”, then “correct conclusions”
And if Austria wins dry in the end, like on Saturday in Slovakia, regardless of the wind and weather, the performance will be analyzed regardless of the result. The victory was nice, but there was “room for improvement,” said the Dortmund legionnaire and spoke about the “unclean and uncontrolled” football before the break. Rangnick spoke of a “slow” first half, in which European Championship starters Slovakia had also done their homework. “In the first half we weren’t pressing enough and made too many mistakes in possession,” Baumgartner put it pointedly.
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In the first half he tried to find Rangnick to discuss the problems. The latter said afterwards: “We drew the right conclusions from it in the second half.” Contrary to his original announcement that the time for experimentation was over, Rangnick did give one or two players the chance to present themselves. Leopold Querfeld had a mixed debut, Stefan Lainer made a similar comeback, and Patrick Pentz, despite a good performance, will normally not be guarding the goal in June, but Alexander Schlager.
Stable core with opportunities for advancement
Rangnick, who has to do without stars like David Alaba and Marko Arnautovic these days, reported regarding the European Championship squad that “we already have a core – a ‘stable core’, as the Englishman says.” This also includes Romano Schmid and Andreas Weimann, who delighted Rangnick as assists and enforcers in the 2-0 win. “The second goal was played fantastically,” said the team boss.
GEPA/Armin Rauthner Romano Schmid recommended himself for higher tasks in just 20 minutes
“Romano is in great shape, also at Werder Bremen. He is a player who is currently knocking on the first team with his self-confidence.” In the thin striker department, enforcers are welcome: “Weimann is a snapper, he makes balls like that, he also does them in training. I was extremely happy for him. He justified his nomination and his substitution.” Sabitzer, who initiated the goal, said: “The 2-0 was close to perfection.”
Test against Türkiye with “EM flair”
Against Turkey, Rangnick is likely to rely on his best eleven currently available, especially since he and the players see it as an atmospheric European Championship test. “It will definitely be an emotional game. I still hope it sells out. There will definitely be a good atmosphere. That’s why the game makes absolute sense from our point of view,” explained the 65-year-old.
Baumgartner knows, “This is a very good team, full of absolute top players, some of them world-class players. It means being there at the point and taking the momentum with us towards the European Championship finals.” The new world record holder is looking forward to “a bit of European Championship flair”, as many Turkish fans have also announced their presence. “Two fan camps against each other, it will be a great atmosphere.”
