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Foda saw room for improvement
© APA (Expa)
Austria’s soccer team boss Franco Foda came to a predominantly positive conclusion after a 2-1 win against Greece on Wednesday in Klagenfurt. The German saw room for improvement over the Nations League matches in Northern Ireland and Romania, but satisfaction with the success of the test match prevailed. “The victory was deserved for the second half,” said the coach.
Foda had switched from a three-man string to 4-2-3-1 after the break, which visibly inspired the ÖFB selection. “In the first half we didn’t have the rhythm in the air, we didn’t play well on the lines, too wide and not vertically. In the second half it was much better and more dynamic, we created much better opportunities,” explained the 54-year-old. .
The increase was also due to substitutes, especially winning scorer Christoph Baumgartner. “He is a player who has the rhythm and finds solutions one-on-one. He enriches the team,” Foda said of the Hoffenheim professional. There was also praise for the team boss for assistants Louis Schaub and Michael Gregoritsch, who were also substituted, and for Adrian Grbic, who made it 1: 1 in the meantime. “He can hold the balls well,” Foda said.
Grbic had his chance in attack because Sasa Kalajdzic suffers from minor muscle problems and Marko Arnautovic was unable to travel due to travel restrictions imposed by China. “Marko can always make a difference, but it’s important for a coach to see that there are alternatives,” Foda said.
Besides Arnautovic, 14 other players were not available for the national coach. That’s one of the reasons Marco Friedl and Raphael Holzhauser came to their team debuts. “They both did well,” Foda said and summed up: “We won, that gives the team confidence. And we have shown that we can deal with failures and with a short preparation we can offer good performance over long distances.
So it was enough for the first win over the Greeks, who also didn’t have the best lineup since 1993, despite a 0-1 disadvantage. “He speaks for the team that they never give up,” Foda said, but also to a limited extent: “We are satisfied with the result, but not with some phases of the game. We can certainly play better.”
Among other things, the goal that upset the team boss, not just because of how it came about. “From my point of view it was a clear foul (Note: from Taxiarchis Fountas to Stefan Lainer). But the referee didn’t see it, we have to keep playing and defend better. Defend the hair, and we didn’t do that in this situation.”
Foda asked his protégés to attend a training session in Klagenfurt on Thursday before leaving for Dublin on Friday, where the League of Nations will play Northern Ireland on Sunday. Three days later, the guest appearance in Ploiesti against Romania rose again in the Nations League. In these games, the coach can turn to David Alaba and Xaver Schlager, who were saved against Greece. Marco Friedl, however, has to return to Bremen due to travel restrictions.
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