The scenery at Foda’s farewell and Dragovic’ anniversary game in Vienna will be sparse. Almost 5,000 tickets had been sold by Monday afternoon. “I know it’s not going to be an easy game when you’ve had such a bad experience a few days before,” Foda said. His departure became official on Monday. “Under the conditions, it should still be a good finish, I would hope for that,” said the German, who took over the selection in 2017 and won 2-1 against Uruguay on his debut.
He himself is looking forward to his last game in office. “I’ll enjoy that again – including the national anthem.” The focus is on the ÖFB relief campaign for war-torn Ukraine. It took his team two days to digest the end in Wales. “Of course there will be one or the other change. I will also try to use all the players who took part in the training,” announced Foda.
The goal should be guarded by Daniel Bachmann instead of Heinz Lindner, who, like substitute striker Michael Gregoritsch, missed the final training session on Monday due to mild cold symptoms. As a left-back, Andreas Ulmer replaces the departed David Alaba.
football test match
Tuesday, 8.45 p.m., live on ORF1
Austria – Scotland
Vienna, Ernst-Happel-Stadion, SR Bognar / HUN
Austria: Bachmann – Lainer, Dragovic, Hinteregger, Ulmer – Laimer, Ilsanker – Baumgartner, Sabitzer, Grüll – Kalajdzic
Scotland: Gordon – Hendry, Hanley, Halkett – Patterson, McGregor, Gilmour, Robertson – McGinn, Christie – Adams
In midfield, instead of Xaver Schlager or Nicolas Seiwald, who is seconded to the U21s, veteran Stefan Ilsanker could come into play. Rapids Marco Grüll seems to be an option on the offensive. Sasa Kalajdzic could start as a striker instead of Marko Arnautovic. “We’ll see which player is ready to play again tomorrow,” said Foda.
Dragovic follows Herzog in the 100 club
Aleksandar Dragovic has a fixed place. The 31-year-old completed his 100th international match against the Scots, only record national player Andreas Herzog (103) has played more ÖFB games than the central defender from Red Star Belgrade. Dragovic did not want to put the “nice number” in the foreground due to the circumstances.
The disappointment is still great after missing the tournament in Qatar. The scenery in the Ernst Happel Stadium is also heading for a minus record. “Of course I’d rather have a full stadium and maybe a World Cup final in June,” said Dragovic. “Unfortunately that’s not the case.” Nevertheless, every game in the national team is “something special” for him.
“Nice number”, but he would prefer World Cup participation
He is a person who always puts the team first. “That’s why it’s definitely a nice number, the 100, but for me personally it’s not such a high point.” He would much rather have qualified for a World Cup with Austria for the first time in his career. In 2016 and 2021 Dragovic took part in European Championship tournaments. “I’m a man who always stands for the team and for success.” On June 6, 2009, Dragovic, with his Serbian roots, made his debut in Belgrade of all places.
“It’s madness. He’s making his 100th cap, it’s incredible,” said Foda. Team colleague Marko Arnautovic also spoke of an “enormous number”. Celebrating the anniversary in front of so few fans will “not be so easy” for Dragovic. The 100 was a big goal of his, revealed Arnautovic. “I’m extremely proud that he did it,” said the 32-year-old about his friend, who, like him, has Serbian roots. Arnautovic himself, with 97 international matches as number three in the ÖFB ranking, is not far from a three-digit number. In June in the Nations League it could be time.
“We agreed that when we come back in June we’ll go eat with the team,” said Arnautovic about himself and Dragovic. As a definitive decision to continue his national team career, the striker did not want to be understood. “I also come to Vienna sometimes.” After the 1: 2 in Wales he had indicated his resignation in the emotion, but there is no news in this matter for the time being.
“We owe it to him”
The first thing on the agenda is to say a dignified farewell to the outgoing team boss. “In the last four and a half years he gave everything for the national team, 100 percent,” said Dragovic. “That’s why we owe it to him that we sacrifice ourselves for 90 minutes and hopefully end it with a good result.” Arnautovic saw it similarly: “For us it’s normal that we want to give the coach a perfect farewell game. “
It would be a trend reversal. The ÖFB team has not won four games in a row against Scotland, the last home win dates back to 1978. Most recently they played 2-2 in Glasgow and lost 0-1 in Vienna in the World Cup qualifier. The Scots have been unbeaten in seven games since the beginning of September, a 2-0 loss in Denmark, and have won six of them. After their 1-1 draw against Poland in Warsaw on Thursday, they will in all likelihood not be at their best in Vienna.
“I might rotate a bit more than usual in the second game of an international window,” announced Scotland team boss Steve Clarke. It is quite possible that defensive stars Kieran Tierney (Arsenal) and Scott McTominay (Manchester United), for example, will be given a break. Captain Andy Robertson (Liverpool) is available again after surviving the CoV infection.
Half of the ticket proceeds will benefit Ukraine
Half of the ticket proceeds go to aid organizations in Ukraine. A good third of the expected spectators are likely to be Scottish. In Vienna, the ÖFB team only won one game last year – almost exactly a year ago to the day against the Faroe Islands (3:1). There were defeats against Denmark (0:4) and Scotland, in the preparation for the European Championship against Slovakia there was only a 0:0.
