Jordan Defeated
LIVE: It’s about to start! The ÖFB team kicks off the World Cup
YEAH—Austria celebrated the World Cup opening victory they’d been hoping for! In a dramatic match on Tuesday (local time) in Group J, they defeated Jordan 3-1.
A dream goal by Romano Schmid, an own goal, and a penalty kick by Marko Arnautovic had head coach Ralf Rangnick’s squad cheering in Santa Clara. Next up on Monday (7 p.m./live on the sportkrone.at live ticker) is Argentina, featuring superstar Lionel Messi.
In front of 68,527 spectators, ÖFB head coach Ralf Rangnick opted to start LASK forward Sasa Kalajdzic—who has been in top form recently—at center forward over Arnautovic and Michael Gregoritsch. Behind him, in the absence of the injured Christoph Baumgartner, Bayern Munich’s versatile player Konrad Laimer—somewhat surprisingly—moved into the playmaker position, while Phillipp Mwene played left fullback. As a result, Rangnick did not have many natural offensive players in his starting lineup.
Jordan Dangerous, Schmid on Target
The Jordanians made their first threat after just 90 seconds. Captain Ihsan Haddad fired into the side netting following a counterattack. Their star forward, Mousa Al-Tamari, tested ÖFB goalkeeper Alexander Schlager for the first time after eight minutes. Schlager had to make his first real save on a slightly deflected shot by Odeh Al-Fakhoury (17th minute). The Austrians, ranked 24th in the world—41 spots ahead of Jordan—were only marginally dangerous in the early going, thanks to Kalajdzic.
Then Schmid struck: The 1.68-meter-tall forward took a chance from 20 meters out after a pass from Xaver Schlager and placed the ball into the top right corner. For the Werder Bremen player, it was his fourth goal in his 35th international match. Austria celebrated its first World Cup goal since Andreas Herzog’s strike in their last appearance, a 1–2 loss to Italy in France in 1998. Schmid then sprinted to the bench and sought out Baumgartner—who had recently undergone thigh surgery—to celebrate with him.
A goal conceded with a warning
World Cup debutant Jordan remained the more dangerous side. Ali Olwan headed the ball off the crossbar (23'). Philipp Lienhart blocked a shot by Al-Tamari with his back (35'), and another shot following a solo run went wide of the goal (45'+1). After the break, the ball finally found its way into the ÖFB net: After Xaver Schlager lost possession, Olwan had plenty of space on the left side. Jordan’s center forward curled the ball from the edge of the penalty area off the inside post and into the net.
Rangnick had already brought Arnautovic on for Kalajdzic by that point. The 37-year-old is now also Austria’s oldest World Cup player to date. In the 59th minute, Kevin Danso came on for captain David Alaba—who was apparently no longer fully fit—along with Paul Wanner and Carney Chukwuemeka, who had only recently joined the ÖFB from the German and English soccer associations, respectively. Xaver Schlager and Mwene were substituted out, and Laimer moved back to left back.
Arnautovic’s goal doesn’t count, but the own goal does
Chukwuemeka failed to put a rebound into the net; his shot was blocked (63'). After a corner kick, Arnautovic scored what appeared to be the 2-1 goal amid a scramble. However, the goal—which was initially awarded—was disallowed after a video review because Stefan Posch had deflected the ball with his arm toward Arnautovic after Jordan’s goalkeeper, Yazeed Abulaila, had failed to clear it properly (67'). The own goal by Al Arab shortly afterward stood. The defender, under slight pressure from Arnautovic, deflected a corner kick by Marcel Sabitzer into his own net with the back of his head.
At the start of the ten-minute stoppage time, Arnautovic failed to convert a golden opportunity to make it 3–1, with Abulaila making the save (92'). At the other end, a long-range shot by Ali Azaizeh whizzed past the right corner (93'). But Arnautovic still managed to score in the closing moments: Salim Obaid deflected a shot by the ÖFB’s all-time leading international with his hand after a give-and-go with substitute Patrick Wimmer. The Mauritanian referee Dahane Beida pointed to the spot after a VAR review, and Arnautovic confidently slotted the ball into the left corner.
First World Cup win since 1990
Arnautovic and Schmid became the first two Austrians since Ivica Vastic to score at both a European Championship and a World Cup. The Austrian national team had last won a World Cup match on June 19, 1990, in Florence against the U.S.—a 2-1 victory. For the first time since 1982, Austria kicked off a World Cup with a win. At the tournament being held in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico, the action continues on Monday (7:00 p.m. CEST) in Dallas against world champions Argentina. The defending champions won their Group J opener against Algeria 3–0 thanks to three goals from Lionel Messi.
Final score:
Austria – Jordan 3–1 (1–0)
Santa Clara, San Francisco Bay Area Stadium, 68,527, Referee Beida (MRT)
Goals: 1–0 (21') Schmid, 1–1 (50') Olwan, 2–1 (77') Al Arab (own goal), 3–1 (102') Arnautovic (handball penalty)
Yellow card: Sabitzer
Austria: A. Schlager – Posch, Lienhart, Alaba (59' Danso), Mwene (59' Wanner) – Seiwald, X. Schlager (59' Chukwuemeka) – Schmid (83' Wimmer), Laimer, Sabitzer – Kalajdzic (46' Arnautovic)
Jordan: Abulaila – Haddad (81. Almardi), Nasib (81. Al Rosan), Al Arab, Abualnadi (72' Obaid), Abu Taha – Al-Tamari (88' Aldaoud), Al Rashdan, Al Rawabdeh, O. Al-Fakhouri (88' Azaizeh) – Olwan
This article has been automatically translated,
read the original article here.
Willkommen in unserer Community! Eingehende Beiträge werden geprüft und anschließend veröffentlicht. Bitte achten Sie auf Einhaltung unserer Netiquette und AGB. Für ausführliche Diskussionen steht Ihnen ebenso das krone.at-Forum zur Verfügung. Hier können Sie das Community-Team via unserer Melde- und Abhilfestelle kontaktieren.
User-Beiträge geben nicht notwendigerweise die Meinung des Betreibers/der Redaktion bzw. von Krone Multimedia (KMM) wieder. In diesem Sinne distanziert sich die Redaktion/der Betreiber von den Inhalten in diesem Diskussionsforum. KMM behält sich insbesondere vor, gegen geltendes Recht verstoßende, den guten Sitten oder der Netiquette widersprechende bzw. dem Ansehen von KMM zuwiderlaufende Beiträge zu löschen, diesbezüglichen Schadenersatz gegenüber dem betreffenden User geltend zu machen, die Nutzer-Daten zu Zwecken der Rechtsverfolgung zu verwenden und strafrechtlich relevante Beiträge zur Anzeige zu bringen (siehe auch AGB). Hier können Sie das Community-Team via unserer Melde- und Abhilfestelle kontaktieren.