contract ends
For the German coach Franco Foda, his upcoming 48th international match as manager of the Austrian national team could be his last. After missing out on qualifying for the World Cup after beating Wales 2-1 on Thursday evening, the native of Mainz is still scheduled to play against Scotland at least next Tuesday. “Foda will still be sitting on the bench,” said ÖFB President Gerhard Milletich to the “ORF“.
It is not clear who will oversee the selection in June in the UEFA Nations League, even if Milletich has not completely ruled out an extension with Foda. Foda’s contract ends on March 31 due to missing the World Cup in Qatar. “We have to find a solution, it can be with or without Foda,” said Milletich. A decision should be made in April. “It’s important not to make any emotional statements after the game, but to remain calm. In the next few days we will talk about other things,” said Foda, who has been in office since October 2017 and has been in charge of the ÖFB selection in 47 games since then.
Austria has been waiting for World Cup participation since 1998, and Foda and his team managed to qualify for the European Championship. He could not decide what speaks for his extension. “Other people who are close to the team, who see how we work, have to judge that,” said Foda, who “is proud to be the national coach of Austria”. Foda has won 27 of his 47 games so far. Only Hugo Meisl had more wins at 71. But in the past four and a half years, Foda has not won a competitive match against a team that is ahead of Austria in the world rankings.
“Of course, qualifying for the World Cup wasn’t what we had imagined. We are all extremely disappointed,” said Foda after the game against Wales. “But we have moved a lot in recent years, we have achieved a lot. It’s not that we were unsuccessful.” The “huge dream” of the World Cup, as sporting director Peter Schöttel called it, was also shattered for numerous Bundesliga professionals in the Austrian selection: Only Marcel Sabitzer from Munich scored (64th) after the double strike from Gareth Bale.
Aces like Xaver Schlager (VfL Wolfsburg), Christoph Baumgartner (TSG 1899 Hoffenheim), Martin Hinteregger (Eintracht Frankfurt), Konrad Laimer (RB Leipzig) and substitute Sasa Kalajdzic (VfB Stuttgart) as well as last summer from Bayern Munich to Real Madrid changed David Alaba could not help their team decisively.
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— ÖFB – oefb.at (@oefb1904) March 24, 2022
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