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Who will replace the suspended head of defense Gernot Trauner? That’s probably the biggest question at LASK ahead of today’s Europa League match with Tottenham. The answer should be Andrés Andrade.
The 22-year-old had already replaced the ailing Petar Filipovic, who is also absent today, in the 0-3 away game, and caused the own goal to put him 0-2. This time, Andrade has to take on more responsibilities without Trauner. The fact that manager Dominik Thalhammer trusts him in this task was demonstrated a week ago in the 2-0 draw against Antwerp: when Trauner was excluded, he did not change the more experienced Christian Ramsebner, but Andrade. “Because I think about him a lot,” Thalhammer said after the game. “He is a player with a lot of potential.” Andrade won 94 percent of his tackles last Sunday, more than any other player on the field.
In July 2018, Andrade moved from the second team of the Querétaro club of the Mexican first division to LASK. From a cooperative player at FC Juniors OÖ, he has now become a reliable alternative. He also returned to the Panama national team. Andrade, whose contract ran through the summer of 2024, is about to take his next high school diploma today.
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Photo gallery: Tottenham Hotspur landed in Linz
PHOTO: VOLKER WEIHBOLD
Criticism of the ÖFB by Balic
Hussein Balic, who returned injured from the ÖFB team’s most recent course, is not on offense today. It’s an award for LASK when players are designated to the national team, Thalhammer explained. “But the fact is that Hussein Balic injured his ankle in the international game against Luxembourg and then continued training with the national team, although according to our current knowledge he should have taken a break.” However, Balic later played for LASK against Hartberg and Antwerp. Thalhammer: “When he came back, we were not informed of the extent of the injury, so he was used in two more games. As a result, the injury got worse and now he’s out.
Article of
Günther Mayrhofer
Sports editor
