There is no better way for a team to measure themselves than to face the champions. That was the situation encountered on Monday at Dallas Stadium in their second match of Group J against Qatar 2022 winners Argentina.
In their first FIFA World Cup™ since France 1998, Austria rolled to a 3-1 triumph over Jordan in their opener before taking on Lionel Messi and Co. While they would have loved to have avoided , Austria now knows what it takes to compete at the highest level in the global finals.
“Of course in the beginning of the game we had a little bit of luck, but I think in general we have to say that our performance was quite good, we brought them in a way of how we wanted them to be,” said midfielder Xaver Schlager to FIFA in reference to Austria’s defensive approach in the first half.
While Austria were more aggressive in the second stanza and carved out some chances, they were unable to find the decisive touch in the final third. Still, hope remained as it was a one-goal deficit until Messi struck for his second in the waning minutes, dealing a blow of frustration.
“The second goal in the end was very hard for us to take because obviously we did exactly what we didn't want,” said Schlager. “We gave them a little bit too much space. In general, I think over the 90 minutes we also had chances: our free-kick, our header, where we could have equalised the game.”
Currently on three points, Austria will still fancy their chances of progressing to the knockouts should they handle matters in their finale against Algeria. From there, they’ll be eager to take the lessons learned against Argentina and apply them in the Round of 32 and beyond.
“We take the right things out of it and then we try to be in the best possible shape against Algeria because today we set a standard, and if we reach this standard we will get points in the last game,” said Schlager.
Sources: FIFA Official
