Altach Reaches Cup Semi-Final – Historic Win!

The SCR Altach has done it! In the 35th attempt, the Rheindörflers managed to reach the semi-finals of the UNIQA ÖFB Cup for the first time. In the quarter-finals, neo-coach Ognjen Zaric’s team won 3-1 against Sturm Graz (to the match report>>>).

Zech’s dream comes true

“Sweet Caroline” echoes through the beak after the final whistle of the cup fight against Sturm, players and coaches are in each other’s arms.

“That’s exactly how we imagined it,” said Altach legend Benedikt Zech with relief in the post-game interview on “ORF”. The 35-year-old knew that they would also have their chances against the favorites Sturm, which they didn’t manage to take advantage of in the first half, but shortly after the restart.

Greil: “Luck was on our side”

First, Patrick Greil scored with a penalty. The Salzburger speaks of a lucky penalty in the making, but overall a deserved victory: “The penalty was a can opener, even if luck was on our side.”

With the yellow-red card on Sturm’s side, the game “went optimally for us,” said Greil. When asked whether it was an advantage for Altach that Fabio Ingolitsch, an old acquaintance, was in the coaching bench at Sturm, Greil said: “I didn’t really think about that during the game.”

Neo-coach successful in competitive debut

It wasn’t an issue for the new Altach coach Ognjen Zaric, who “logically feels very good” after his competitive debut. For the 37-year-old, who was born in the former Yugoslavia and grew up in Tyrol, it was important “to stick to the plan and not let the issues from the left and right influence too much.”

After a draw in regular time, his team was able to give the reigning champions two more goals in extra time, which makes Altach a deserved winner from Zaric’s point of view.

He particularly liked the fact that his team was clearly on schedule and “brought incredible energy to the pitch.”

The next tough challenge awaits in the next round. In the cup semi-finals we play away against FC Red Bull Salzburg (all information about the draw>>>).

Zaric piles deep: “We won’t always succeed”

For Zaric, the role of favorite is of course clearly regulated there, but: “we know that there is only one step left until the final”.

But now it’s time to work hard because there are “other tasks ahead of us.” The league’s spring opener is at home against FC Blau-Weiß Linz.

The start was promising because “the team’s performance as a whole package was simply very good. And I believe that we managed to take the audience with us today,” says Zaric happily, emphasizing that we have to try to always perform like that, “even if we don’t always succeed.”