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So unspectacular the title, so unspectacular the game. Austria’s weak B-Elf wins the negligible away test in Luxembourg 3-0.
The Austrian team achieved their fourth consecutive victory on Wednesday. A ÖFB team that had changed significantly due to numerous failures achieved a 3-0 win in a friendly in Luxembourg. Gernot Trauner (61st), substitute Adrian Grbić (83rd) and rookie Philipp Wiesinger (93rd) scored the goals at Stade Josy Barthel, which was left empty due to Corona in the second half. Before the break, Austria’s B-Elf had everything but shine.
ÖFB team boss Franco Foda was forced to improvise by a dozen failures, some of which were due to positive corona tests. Furthermore, the regular staff did not take part in the decisive Nations League home matches on Sunday against Northern Ireland and on Wednesday against Norway. Since the last 1-0 win in Romania, only goalkeeper Pavao Pervan and Martin Hinteregger, who was captain in place of Julian Baumgartlinger, remained in the starting lineup.
Hinteregger formed a three-man defensive chain with Trauner and Philipp Lienhart. Wiesinger made his international debut down the left in midfield due to lack of personnel. The LASK defender was not nominated until Tuesday. Peter Žulj and Raphael Holzhauser, who were also recently named, played in central midfield. In the middle of the storm, Sasa Kalajdžić had his chance, but it had no effect. For Lienhart, Trauner, Holzhauser and Kalajdžić it was their second international appearance.
Bad performance, excellent result
Despite their superiority on the field, Austria found it extremely difficult to achieve clear scoring chances for a long time against the Luxembourgers, who were also not represented in the best lineup due to upcoming Nations League tasks. There was no voting on the game settings. For the moment, even the Grand Duchy kickers found the best opportunity, but Vicent Thill shot far from the mark (33rd). On the other side, a volley goal from Louis Schaub did not count for a slight offside (42.).
With the inclusion of Grbić in place of Kalajdžić and five changes to the hosts at half-time, the ÖFB game took a little more pace. A Grbić header after a cross from Christopher Trimmel was stopped by Luxembourg goalkeeper Anthony Moris (52nd), a deflected shot from the French legionnaire went wide (59th). Two minutes later, standards specialist Trauner sank a Trimmel corner kick with a powerful head in the right corner.
At this point, four LASK players were already on the Austrian pitch: in addition to Trauner and Wiesinger, substitutes Reinhold Ranftl and Husein Balić, who made their international debut from minute 58 onwards. Grbić missed another great opportunity from offside (71) before scoring his second goal from a throw-in and one-two with substitute Baumgartlinger in his fifth international game. The regular captain also made it 3-0 through a low shot from Wiesinger in the far corner.
The result of the duel between number 25 in the FIFA world rankings and number 95 was perhaps too high in the end. Austria also won the seventh comparison with Luxembourg. The Austrians had only traveled to the Grand Duchy on match day and will return to Vienna on Thursday. David Alaba, Marcel Sabitzer, Xaver Schlager and Stefan Lainer, who were saved in Luxembourg, and Salzburg players Cican Stanković and Andreas Ulmer also join the team there. It is unclear if Christoph Baumgartner will continue in the Nations League matches in Vienna. The young Hoffenheim star is still at his club due to a team quarantine.
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