Leipzig’s Christoph Baumgartner was the decisive man in the easternmost international match in the 122-year history of the Austrian Football Association (ÖFB) in Almaty with the opening goal (15th) and the red card against Aleksander Maroschkin (23rd/emergency brake). Freiburg’s Michael Gregoritsch (25th) converted the free kick from around 20 meters, which was worth seeing. Afterwards, the Austrian victory was hardly in danger.
With three wins and one draw, Rangnick’s team is in first place in Group B3. Only the first team in the table advances directly to League A, with a win in the final home game against the Slovenians on Sunday (6 p.m./DAZN) Austria has this in their own hands.
Before the game, the huge dispute in the association dominated the headlines. Because of the planned dismissal of ÖFB managing director Bernhard Neuhold at the end of the year, Rangnick and the players’ council around David Alaba made representations to the executive committee. The players were reprimanded for their interference. Rangnick then denounced the grievances at the association in a sensational, incendiary speech.
