Thanks to Dragovic

Austria: Five hours without conceding a goal

Aleks Dragovic (right) is the most important pillar in the defense of the "Veilchen".

(Bild: GEPA/GEPA pictures)

Austria's bulwark has held for 309 minutes.Since Aleks Dragovic has returned to the favorites, little has burned. "A credit to the whole team!" 

Vienna Austria have gone an impressive 309 minutes, or more than five hours, without conceding a goal in their last four competitive matches. A real rarity in the world of violets in recent years. But definitely no coincidence at the moment.

And certainly also closely linked to the name Aleks Dragovic. Since the 100-time ÖFB team player returned to Vienna-Favoriten after his European tour, there has been much less fire in the purple-white penalty area. And that's despite the fact that Johannes Handl (who will be signing autographs before the home match against BW Linz tomorrow at 2.30pm), a real defensive bench player, is still missing through injury.

Aleks Dragovic is Austrias defensive boss.

(Bild: GEPA/GEPA pictures)

In goal, one-goal Manuel Sahin-Radlinger and Mirko Kos (who will play in the Cup) are currently keeping a tight rein. "Playing to nil is of course extremely good for a goalkeeper," says Sahin-Radlinger. "But that's a credit to the whole team. From the two strikers to the goalkeeper. We defend very well as a whole and don't concede much in our own penalty area."

Manuel Sahin-Radlinger

(Bild: GEPA/GEPA pictures)

Fellow goalkeeper Kos says of Dragovic: "An incredibly important player for us. Always a modest, hard worker. You don't need to say much about his qualities after 100 international matches. Drago gives the team a lot of stability."

"Like renovating a church"
 Head coach Stephan Helm can only nod in agreement. He describes the development of the Austria squad as an "ongoing process" and has an apt comparison at the ready: "It's like renovating a huge church. When you've finally finished at the top, you have to start again at the bottom." One player who is currently only being used sparingly in this renovation is striker Muki Huskovic. Why is that? Helm: "There's a lot of competition in the attack. We make it really difficult for ourselves to decide who plays, it's very tight. Form and training performance decide in the end."