Comments on the game

Rangnick: “You can’t play much better”

Ralf Rangnick

(Bild: APA/MAX SLOVENCIK)

Austria's national team squandered what looked like a certain victory against Slovenia on Sunday and had to settle for second place in Nations League Group 3 of League B after a 1-1 draw. Here are the comments on the game:

Ralf Rangnick (ÖFB team boss): "We had chances for five, six if not more goals. For me it was one of the best, if not the best game since I've been team manager. You can't play better over 75 minutes. That was a difference in class. I told the team that I'm delighted with the game. The only thing that doesn't fit is the result. It was a game that took us another step forward. They (Slovenia) didn't have any chances to score, and the goal wasn't one either. We initiated that ourselves. He didn't hit the ball the way he wanted to either. We had a lot of chances.

I'm not disappointed or sad, but rather positive about today's performance. There have been other games where we've won and I wasn't so happy. In the last four games, the team has shown the face that it had worked for before. The style of play is outstanding for a national team. Now injuries are returning. When we can really draw from the full again, I'll be looking forward to the upcoming games."

(Bild: GEPA pictures)

Marcel Sabitzer (ÖFB midfielder): "It was a class difference, we played at a top level for long stretches and had a lot of chances to score. Their goal came out of nowhere from one of our mistakes. We can only blame ourselves for not scoring, normally it should be 2-0 or 3-0 after 60 or 65 minutes. A 1-0 is a dangerous result."

Christoph Baumgartner (ÖFB striker): "We were clearly dominant for long stretches. I can't remember many chances for the Slovenians. We just have to score the second goal. In the end I have to score at 1:1. We end up with a draw and are disappointed. We went into administration mode too much around the 60th and 70th minute. Despite everything, we were the dominant team and had the game under control. As long as it's 1-0, every opponent is still alive. That's what was missing today, that we closed the game out."

(Bild: GEPA)

Romano Schmid (ÖFB goalscorer for 1:0): "You could see what the problem was, the realization of the scoring chances. We dominated maybe 70 minutes, the other 20 were even, they had no scoring chances apart from this one. That's why it just hurts."

Matjaz Kek (Slovenia team boss): "First we had to survive 50, 60 minutes in the Prater. It was really difficult for us. We showed too much respect, were too slow, too anxious in the duels. After the changes, we changed our tactics and gained a bit of an advantage in midfield with one man more. And then we were also dangerous. We were lucky for an hour and were too dangerous at the end."