Sports desk (EFE).- The Austrian national team followed the script, albeit with much more difficulty than expected, and celebrated its return, twenty-eight years later, to the final phase of a World Cup, after prevailing this Wednesday 3-1 over Jordan, which caused the Central Europeans more problems than the final score reflected.
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Emboldened, perhaps, by the surprising draw (0-0) that Cape Verde achieved against the European champion, Spain, the Jordanian team, another debutant in a World Cup final phase, came out ready to prolong the revolution of the underdogs.
Something simpler when you have a player like Mousa Al-Tamari, who forgot about the disputes he has had with his coach over where to set the pressing line and dedicated himself to what he does best: appearing again and again all across the attacking front.
But if the speed of the French Rennes winger was no surprise to anyone, more unexpected was the audacity of young Odeh Fakhoury, who at seventeen minutes was about to open the scoring with a powerful shot from the edge of the area that forced the Austrian goalkeeper Alex Schlager to show off his skills.
Romano Schmid scores Austria’s first
However, Jordanian goalkeeper Yazzed Abu Laila could do nothing to prevent midfielder Romano Schmid from making it 1-0 four minutes later, in the twenty-first, with a spectacular right-footed shot from the edge of the penalty area.
A goal that, far from daunting the Jordanian side, led the team of Moroccan Jamal Sellami to take a step forward and snatch control of the match from an Austria that, despite its lead on the scoreboard, never seemed comfortable.
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In fact, Jordan had two clear chances to level the contest before reaching the break, but if at twenty-two minutes the crossbar prevented Ali Olwan’s header from ending in a goal, in the thirty-fourth it was goalkeeper Schlager who avoided the Jordanian striker’s goal.
Jordan’s draw
However, nothing and no one could prevent the Arab attacker from finally putting the ball into the net (1-1) on his third attempt, finishing off a fast counterattack at the fifty-minute mark with a powerful and precise shot.
An unexpected scenario that the Austrian coach Ralf Rangnick tried to turn around with a triple substitution, in addition to the one he already made right after halftime with the entry of Marko Arnautovic onto the pitch.
It did not take long for the Red Star striker to confirm his reputation as a goalscorer after taking advantage of a poor clearance by goalkeeper Abu Laila following a corner kick to score the 2-1 in the sixty-eighth minute.
Goal that never made it to the scoreboard after it was verified in the video footage that the Austrian player Stefan Posch touched the ball with his arm before passing the ball to Arnautovic.
Second own goal
But nothing could stop Austria anymore, which, in the seventy-seventh minute, once again exploited Jordan’s problems with aerial play with a new cross from the flank that Yazan Alarab, one of the standouts on the Arab team, put into his own goal (2-1).
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An unfortunate action that seemed to end the chances for a Jordan team that, increasingly tired, conceded everything in stoppage time that it hadn’t conceded during the rest of the match, which Austria did not fail to take advantage of to pad the score with a penalty goal after more than a hundred minutes of play.
Technical specifications
3 – Austria: Alex Schlager; Posch, Lienhart, Alaba (Danso, m.59), Mwene (Wanner, m.59); Seiwald, Xaver Schlager (Chukwuemeka, m.59); Schmid (Wimmer, m.83), Laimer, Sabitzer and Kalajdzic (Arnautovic, m.46).
1 – Jordan: Abu Laila; Nassib (Alrosan, m.81), Abualnadi (Obaid, m.72), Alarab; Haddad (Almardi, m.81), Al-Rawabdeh, Al-Rashdan, Abu Taha; Al-Tamari (Aldaoud, m.88), Olwan and Fakhoury (Azaizeh, m.88)
Goals: 1-0, 21st min: Schmid. 1-1, 50th min: Olwan. 2-1, 77th min: Alarab (own goal). 3-1, 90+12th min: Arnautovic (penalty).
Referee: Dahane Beida (MTN). Showed a yellow card to Sabitzer for Austria.
Incidents: Match corresponding to the first round of group K played at the San Francisco Bay stadium.
