“Joker” Arnautovic scored the final score against North Macedonia
Two substitutes steered the European Football Championship opening game on Sunday in Bucharest for the Austrian national team on the right track. The two “jokers” Michael Gregoritsch and Marko Arnautovic converted a 1-1 into a 3-1 win against North Macedonia with their goals. With his extravagant goal celebration, the latter possibly indicated a certain dissatisfaction with his reserve existence, but emphasized the team idea after the final whistle.
“It's a nice feeling. I'm happy that the team won. It doesn't matter now,” said Arnautovic. The Viennese suffered a muscle injury in a match with his club Shanghai Port on May 11th and only started full team training on June 4th. Therefore, team boss Franco Foda left the 89-time international, who scored his 27th ÖFB goal, on the bench for the time being.
As a substitute in the 58th minute, Arnautovic helped to fix Austria's first ever win at a EURO. “To win the first game so well is a huge step. Now we are ready for more,” said the striker and was also happy about the return of the fans: “A great feeling. Finally you feel like a footballer again.”
It is unclear whether Arnautovic will be able to play against the Netherlands on Thursday in Amsterdam. Team boss Franco Foda kept a low profile in this regard and simply said: “When he's in top shape, he always plays for me from the start. But he came back after an injury.”
With the substitutions of Arnautovic and Gregoritsch, the German showed a golden hand. “They brought new momentum. Both of them scored goals, that's how it has to be. You need all the players at a European Championship, everyone has to be ready for 100 percent,” said Foda.
While Arnautovic's cadre nomination was never in question, Gregoritsch had to tremble for a long time, after all, the Styrian was rarely or never used in Augsburg in the spring. Nevertheless, Foda decided in favor of Gregoritsch and against Adrian Grbic. “He played little, but we clearly made the decision to take him with us because he always performed well in the national team. He has already confirmed that in the two friendlies when he has not yet scored the goals. Thank God he did he saved the gate to this day, “said the coach.
According to Foda, the decisive factors for Gregoritsch were both sporting criteria and the team structure. “He's a great fit for the team, that's why we decided on him in the end.”
Gregoritsch himself had tears in his eyes after his fifth goal in the 27th international match in the ORF interview. “That means everything to me today, it's my brother's birthday, I've had a difficult year. It's for everyone who believed in me. It's wonderful,” said the 27-year-old.
According to David Alaba, the fact that the game was decided by “Joker” goals proves the strength of the ÖFB team. “First and foremost, it shows what kind of character, what team spirit we have in the team, what breadth of quality we have. It's nice to see when they come in that they can help us so enormously.”
Gregoritsch recently had to nibble on his difficult situation near Augsburg, but received encouragement from Alaba. “Over the past few days and weeks I have kept telling him that you will get your chance, please for me, put it in. Today he showed how important he can be for us.” There is no need to discuss Arnautovic's qualities anyway. “He was not only important on the pitch, he is also a very important part of our team off the pitch. We know exactly what we have in Marko,” emphasized Alaba.
Arnautovic was not happy about his reservist role, as the future Real Madrid professional reported. “I can say that he is not 100 percent satisfied because we players always want to play,” said Alaba. “But you saw what kind of character he was when he came in. He gave 100 percent straight away, that's why I perceived him positively – even when the coach informed him of the decision. He was there for the team.”
