Austria, as so often in the recent past, got off to a dream start. World record holder Christoph Baumgartner was fouled after just a few seconds and was awarded a penalty, but was not awarded the penalty. Instead, the Leipzig legionnaire provided a great assist for Patrick Wimmer’s first international goal (9th) and scored himself into the corner (13th).
In a typical friendly match that featured idle moments and slowed down, but also brought intense duels and two injured players (including Florian Grillitsch and Wimmer), Serbia came back and reduced the deficit with a header from Salzburg defender Strahinja Pavlovic (35′). After the break there were more substitutions than chances, Serbia had more of the game but were not compelling enough. Austria missed the chance to decide the game early on the counterattack and then through “joker” Andreas Weimann.
Wimmer scores after a dream pass (10th minute)
Patrick Wimmer scores his first international goal after a pass from Christoph Baumgartner.
The dress rehearsal for the finals in Germany (from June 14th) will take place on Saturday (6 p.m.) in St. Gallen against Switzerland, after which there are three days off before the base camp in Berlin is moved into from June 12th. In Group D, the teams will then get down to business against France (June 17th/Düsseldorf), Poland (June 21st) and the Netherlands (June 25th/both in Berlin).
Honors and farewells
Before the last home game before the European Championship kicked off, ÖFB President Klaus Mitterdorfer and Sports Director Peter Schöttel honored Aleksandar Dragovic, who had played his 100th international match over two years ago. In the Rangnick era, the 33-year-old was no longer considered, and the duel against Serbia, where his parents come from, was now the perfect stage for the award, especially since the Serbian fans also applauded at the ceremonial presentation.
APA/Georg Hochmuth Dragovic has Serbian roots, the honour on the occasion of 100 international matches was appropriate in this game
There was also a lot of applause for Martin Hinteregger (67 international matches) and Stefan Ilsanker (61), who, unlike Dragovic, have already ended their professional careers. Both were admitted to the ÖFB legends club, in which you can find a place after 50 international matches.
Some get opportunities
A place in team manager Rangnick’s starting eleven in the penultimate friendly match was given to Sturm’s master Alexander Prass at left full-back, Florian Grillitsch alongside Niklas Seiwald in central midfield and the new father of two Romano Schmid, who, like Patrick Wimmer, got his chance after the birth of his son Emilio. Marko Arnautovic was allowed to lead the Austrians onto the field as captain against his father’s homeland.
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The injured David Alaba sat on the bench in his tracksuit, and the “non-playing captain” was joined by Konrad Laimer and Michael Gregoritsch. For Serbia, which is taking part in the European Championship finals for the first time as an independent country, team manager Dragan Stojkovic was spoilt for choice, especially up front. In the test match for the European Championship matches against England, Slovenia and Denmark, Dusan Vlahovic from Juventus Turin started – and Salzburg’s Pavlovic was in defence.
Baumgartner with the next lightning start
After the 6.3-second world record goal in Slovakia, the wider football world knows that Austria is in a hurry when it comes to kick-offs. This was also the case against the Serbs: Baumgartner was knocked over by Uros Spajic in the penalty area after around seven seconds, but the whistle of the Portuguese referee Antonio Nobre remained silent, as was the case for a foul on Arnautovic, to his surprise – a short time later, he received the first yellow card of the game for this, the result of a hard body check on Nemanja Gudelj.
Penalty alert after a few seconds (1st minute)
In the penultimate friendly match before the European Football Championship in Germany, the ÖFB team will face Serbia on Tuesday evening in the Ernst Happel Stadium. The dress rehearsal for the European Championship against Switzerland will follow on Saturday in St. Gallen.
Wimmer scores first, Baumgartner increases
Austria dominated the opening phase and sent the fans in the Oval into ecstasy during the first quarter of an hour: Baumgartner was solely to blame for this, setting up Wimmer with a perfectly timed pass a la Toni Kroos. The Wolfsburg legionnaire scored the first goal in his eleventh international match (9th minute) from the half-right of the penalty area, hitting the post on the left. After his wedding, the jubilant finger was pointed at his bride Sarah.
AP/Matthias Schrader After a sweet pass from Baumgartner, Wimmer scored for the first time in the national team
Four minutes later, Baumgartner himself was celebrating. Kevin Danso fought for the ball, which could have been punished, too. The ball came to Baumgartner via Nicolas Seiwald and Grillitsch, who coolly and accurately slotted it into the corner from outside the box (13th minute), increasing his tally to 14 goals in just his 37th international match.
Serbia shortens through Salzburg’s Pavlovic
The stadium cheered for Scooter’s goal anthem, followed by the first standing ovation. But just three minutes later, Serbia almost pulled one back. After a cross from the right, Dusan Tadic, left alone in the middle of the box, narrowly missed (16′). The ÖFB team continued to have more of the game, but as is often the case in a friendly match, there were also phases in which not much happened. Baumgartner fired a shot (25′), Wimmer scored into the empty net when he was offside (33′).
Pavlovic scores a header (35th minute)
The Salzburg legionnaire scores with a header to make it 1:2.
Two minutes later, the Serbs took advantage of their second chance of the match to make it 1:2. After a Tadic cross from the left, Spajic headed the ball onto the post and Pavlovic was also able to head it home (35′). In a match that was intense for a friendly, Grillitsch had to leave the field before half-time with a bandage wrapped around his head. Arnautovic also stayed in the dressing room at half-time.
Austria brings home victory
The substitutions continued apace in the second half, especially around the 60th minute. At this point, Serbia had a lot of corner kicks, but goalkeeper Patrick Pentz also underlined his claim to the role of number one. The many substitutions around the 70th minute made the game disjointed.
And without Baumgartner and Co. on the field, the ÖFB team had fewer chances after the break, but should still have brought about the decision. In a counterattack opportunity that resulted in a 4:2 power play, Pavlovic successfully defended against Seiwald and Wimmer (67th). Ten minutes later, “joker” Andreas Weimann failed alone in front of goalie Vanja Milinkovic-Savic. Austria finally brought home the victory, Serbia tried to equalize for the fans, but was not convincing enough.
Football friendly
Tuesday:
Austria – Serbia 2:1 (2:1)
Vienna, Happel Stadium, 37,800, SR Nobre (POR)
Torfolge:
1:0 Wimmer (9.)
2:0 Baumgartner (13.)
2:1 Pavlovic (35.)
Austria: Pentz – Posch, Danso (73./Querfeld), Wöber (61./Lienhart), Prass – Seiwald, Grillitsch (43./Laimer) – Schmid (62. Weimann), Baumgartner (62./Grüll), Wimmer (78./Entrup) – Arnautovic (46./Gregoritsch)
Serbia: V. Milinkovic-Savic – Spajic (46./Milenkovic), Gudelj (64./Samardzic), Veljkovic, Pavlovic – Maksimovic (43./Ilic) – Zivkovic, Tadic (46./Mitrovic), S. Milinkovic-Savic (75./Lukic), Gacinovic (64./Birmancevic) – Vlahovic (75./Jovic)
Yellow cards: Arnautovic, Posch, Laimer and Mitrovic
