Matchwinner Arnautovic

“Coach told me to fix it”

Marko Arnautovic scored twice against Norway.

(Bild: GEPA/GEPA pictures)

Austria's national soccer team took revenge on Norway with a brilliant 5:1. Find out what the protagonists had to say after the final whistle here.

Ralf Rangnick (ÖFB team manager): 
"We played the way we've played in many good games, today it was special against an extremely strong opponent. The goal we conceded was a bit unfortunate at the time. But the team's reaction was fantastic. What I particularly liked was that we never stopped. That's how I imagine it. You have to score three headers against the biggest team in the world first. We missed scoring the second or third goal in the first half. The second half was really good. We were a bit lucky at the start when Haaland hit the post, but even then we controlled the game.

Ralf Rangnick

(Bild: GEPA)

I've always said that the key is energy and that was infectious today in a positive sense. With this style of play, we have a chance against any opponent to really cause them problems. Arnautovic is simply good. He was also strong against the ball today. He's someone who can finish like that and he's still got a lot of physical ability. In form like today, he's still an important player for us."

Marko Arnautovic (ÖFB striker/double goalscorer): 
"The games against Slovenia and Norway away, that wasn't us. We needed time to get back into it. The last two games, that's exactly us. (...) I feel good, of course I wanted to play more, also at the club. I accept my role. The coach told me this morning that I should fix it. Thank God that worked out."

ÖFB captain Marko Arnautovic

(Bild: GEPA)

Philipp Lienhart (ÖFB defender and scorer of the 3:1 goal): 
"Romano (Schmid, ed.) gets the balls in very, very well and I think my running was also very good again today. I'm happy that the ball is going in at the back. We try to score goals from set-pieces, that's important. That's how you can decide games like this. As in the game against Kazakhstan, we had a lot of power on the pitch, a lot of energy. We were very present in the duels. That's what sets us apart, we hardly let our opponents breathe. We've often proven that we have quality on the ball."

 

Michael Gregoritsch (substitute ÖFB striker/scorer of the 5:1):
"Super debut, great ball from Sabi (Marcel Sabitzer, ed.), I have the empty goal in front of me. That was actually an easy task. I've often read that we have problems in attack. If we carry on like this, we won't read that so often."

Michael Gregoritsch headed to make it 5:1.

(Bild: GEPA/GEPA pictures)

Klaus Mitterdorfer (ÖFB President): 
"The whole team deserved it today. It was a great performance, especially in the second half. You could feel the passion and enthusiasm and the heart that the players brought to the pitch. That's actually what has characterized this generation for a long time. That's the path they're successfully following and you can build on that and be very proud of it."

Ståle Solbakken (Norway team manager): 
"The game was very even at the start. We deserved to equalize, then came a very dubious penalty and a very dubious corner after a foul on our left-back. After that, Austria were the much better team. We weren't good enough and couldn't stop the bleeding. We lost our defensive organization. There was a big difference between the two teams after the 3-1, but not before. Austria have a strong team, they showed that today, in the European Championship qualifiers and at the European Championship. I think Austria is a very strong contender for the World Cup."

Alexander Sörloth (Norway goalscorer): 
"We played a good first half, scored the goal just before the break and were relieved in the dressing room. Then we go out and Austria score everything. They played a fantastic second half and took their chance. There are still two games left, we need six points. We have to forget this game as soon as possible. It will be interesting to see who wins the group."