By Martin Petty
SANTA CLARA, California, June 16 (Reuters) – Austria celebrated their long-awaited return to the World Cup with a 3-1 win over determined debutants Jordan on Tuesday, with substitute Marko Arnautovic the difference in a gritty, end-to-end Group J match.
In a tense game on a brisk night in the San Francisco Bay Area, Austria went ahead with a 21st-minute thunderbolt from Romano Schmid before Jordan fought back after the break through Ali Olwan’s exquisite strike in off the post.
The catalyst for the Austrian victory was the halftime introduction of 37-year-old Arnautovic, who pressured defender Yazan Al Arab into a 76th-minute own goal before converting a perfect penalty deep into stoppage time.
The 3-1 scoreline perhaps flattered Austria, who were caught off guard by the pace of Jordan’s counterattacks as they looked to make their mark in their first-ever appearance at the showpiece event.
The victory puts Austria second in Group J behind defending champions Argentina, who beat Algeria 3-0 in Kansas City earlier on Tuesday.
Austria midfielder Konrad Laimer said he was relieved to get the win after a tough opening encounter.
“We knew that this was going to be a difficult match,” he said.
“What’s important is the mentality of the entire team. We never gave up, we kept going until the end and finally we came out on top.”
28-YEAR WORLD CUP ABSENCE
Jordan defended resolutely and were fierce on the break, with the pace of forwards Olwan and Mousa Al-Tamari a constant threat to Austria, who were playing at their first World Cup in 28 years.
The match got off to a frenetic start, with Jordan causing a scare two minutes in with a counter-attack that led to captain Ehsan Haddad blasting low into the side netting.
Austria soon got into their stride, with Marcel Sabitzer the central figure in a succession of attacks, and they broke the deadlock on 21 minutes when Schmid found the top corner from outside the box.
Jordan pressed hard and found the leveller five minutes after halftime when Olwan powered down the left before firing a sumptuous shot in off the far post, sparking jubilation among their supporters in the stands.
Austria thought they were back in front when Arnautovic prodded home a loose ball from close range, but the goal was ruled out due to a handball by Stefan Posch following a VAR review.
They got the decisive goal when Sabitzer’s corner went in off Al Arab, then put the game beyond Jordan through Arnautovic’s penalty 12 minutes into stoppage time.
“We didn’t deserve to lose in our first-ever World Cup appearance – a historic participation for us,” Jordan’s Olwan said.
“We still have two matches ahead, and based on what I saw from our team today, we are capable of qualifying.”
Austria next face defending champions Argentina while Jordan take on Algeria on June 22.
Austria coach Ralf Rangnick praised Jordan for “an amazing job” and said results so far in this World Cup had shown how difficult it was for European teams to beat lower-ranked sides.
“They made it very difficult for us. I think that in the second half, this is where we got into the game,” he said.
“At the end of the day, I think that we deserved to win but it was very, very difficult.”
(Reporting by Martin Petty; Additional reporting by Ahmad El Ghannam in Cairo and Sam Tobin; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
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