SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — Austria won. world cup On Tuesday, they defeated a team from Jordan 3-1 in their debut match at soccer’s premier global event, their first match in 36 years.
A corner kick was deflected by Jordanian defender Yazan Al Arab and resulted in an own goal, giving Austria a 2-1 lead in the 76th minute. Veteran striker Marko Arnautovic converted a penalty deep in stoppage time to widen the lead.
“It was a very intense night, a little too intense at times,” Austria coach Ralf Rangnick said. “Jordan did a great job, but it was a very difficult situation for us. At the end of the day, we deserved the win, but it was very difficult.”
of Group J The match between the Jordanian national team, which was participating in the World Cup for the first time, and the Austrian national team, which returned to soccer’s biggest stage after missing the previous six tournaments, caused a lot of excitement.
It peaked in the second half, featuring Jordan’s equalizing goal and two balls sent into the net from Austria’s corner kicks, only one of which counted.
The 37-year-old Arnautovic looked set to give Austria the lead after firing after a misplay by Jordanian goalkeeper Yazeed Abulaila. However, the decision went to a VAR review and the referee called Stefan Posch for a handball early on.
Immediately after the second half’s hydration break, Austria won a corner kick and took a 2-1 lead thanks to an Al Arab own goal.
That was the difference for Austria, which earned its first World Cup victory since beating the United States in the 1990 group stage. Jordan fell short of their goal of becoming the first country to win their first World Cup match since Senegal faced defending champions France in 2002.
“No one expected us to be so bold, so aggressive, so able to capitalize on our opportunities,” Jordan coach Jamal Selami said. “This is exactly the message we wanted to convey.”
Romano Schmidt capped off a great build-up for Austria in the 20th minute when he chased down the Jordan defense and scored. Xaver Schlager passed the ball to Schmidt, who fired a perfect right-footed shot from the edge of the area into the top corner.
In the 50th minute, Ali Orwan made a long run into the box on the counter attack and beat Alexander Schlager with a right-footed shot to level the score and delight the large number of Jordanian fans.
Posh suffered a jaw injury late in the match and his status going forward is in doubt.
Jordan will return to Santa Clara next Monday for the second leg against Algeria, who lost 3-0 to Argentina in the first leg of Group J. Austria will play Lionel Messi and the Argentina national team the same day in the Dallas area.
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AP World Cup: https://apnews.com/fifa-world-cup
