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In the first qualifying match for the 2022 World Cup, Austria drew 2-2 against Scotland in Glasgow. Sasa Kalajdzic scored for Austria both times.
There was more to it: Austria’s national soccer team scored a point against Scotland at the start of qualifying for the World Cup in Glasgow. With 2: 2 (0: 0), Franco Foda’s team did not have time to lead twice.
Austria started as a co-favorite behind Denmark (winning 2-0 in Israel at the start) in the standings. Looking so brave was the order of the day in front of the empty stands in Glasgow’s Hampden Park. Sasa Kalajdzic started immediately, narrowly missing the goal after just one minute.
However, after this wake-up call, the Scots did not allow much more productive activity. The lineup (without the ailing Marcel Sabitzer) made a lot of crosses from the wingers that Stefan Lainer and David Alaba expected on the two tall attackers. However, they did not materialize, and in between there was little to do against the compact Scottish defense. Soon a very static game developed.
In return, the rather serious Scots dared to do more with the continuation of the game. The pressure on the ÖFB defense had an effect: Alexander Schlager, called in goal, played Lyndon Dykes directly on the feet, but then made up for his big mistake with a standing defense (42.).
Overhead pull compensation
Shortly before the break, Sasa Kalajdzic had to be treated on the shoulder. But he kept playing after the restart, which should pay off ten minutes later: The 23-year-old showed his nose for goal when goalkeeper David Marshall was only able to bounce off a Grillitsch shot. The 1-0 victory was the prelude to wildly wild minutes at Hampden Park: first, Stefan Ilsanker was lucky that his wrestling debut against Ryan Christie was not penalized with a penalty (56th), then Stuart Armstrong barely failed (57 °). Sasa Kalajdzic was already cheering for the 2-0, but had fouled before the header. But then the door was made by the bulkheads. With a long free kick, Schlager missed out the door. Grant Hanley took advantage of the space with gratitude and closed with his head to equalize (71.).
With the new 1: 1 dynamic came into play. The scenes in the penalty area increased. A perfect cross from Stefan Lainer to Kalajdzic and a strong header made it 2: 1 (80th). But again the leadership did not last. The defense forgot about John McGinn, who fooled goalkeeper Schlager with a shot from above (85th). Sasa Kalajdzic said: “Obviously I am happy for my first goals with the national team. We should have defended him better in the end.”
Foda: “Lost points”
Team boss Franco Foda said: “We lost two points. If you take the lead twice, you have to keep time. We didn’t defend well on both goals. The first was too easy and the second. We would have to move. But congratulations. to the team, they showed mentality and accepted the fight. “
To be continued on Sunday, the Faroe Islands are the next qualifying rivals in Vienna.
The match to read on the live ticker:
World Cup qualification
Group A: Serbia 3-2 Ireland, Portugal 1-0 Azerbaijan
Group B: Sweden 1-0 Georgia, Spain 1-1 Greece
Group C: Bulgaria 1-3 Switzerland, Italy 2-0 Northern Ireland
Group D: Finland 2-2 Bosnia-Herzegovina, France 1-1 Ukraine
Group E: Estonia 2-6 Czech Republic, Belgium 3-1 Wales
Group F: Scotland 2-2 Austria, Moldova 1-1 Faroe Islands, Israel 0-2 Denmark
Group G: Gibraltar 0-3 Norway, Turkey 4-2 Holland, Latvia 1-2 Montenegro
Group H: Slovenia 1-0 Croatia, Malta 1-3 Russia, Cyprus 0-0 Slovakia
Group I: Hungary – Poland 3: 3, Andorra – Albania 0: 1, England – San Marino 5: 0
Group J: Germany 3-0 Iceland, Romania 3-2 North Macedonia, Liechtenstein 0-1 Armenia
