The match was even, Austria exploited our mistakes

Kosovo was defeated 3–1 by Austria at the Ernst Happel Stadium in Vienna, in the second-round Nations League match. Foda said after the match that the team never gave up.

The Kosovo national team was defeated 3–1 by Austria at the Ernst Happel Stadium in Vienna, in the second-round Nations League match, as futbolli.info reports. The “Dardanët” ended with a defeat in a match where, according to coach Franco Foda, the statistics speak of balance, but the difference was made by individual mistakes.

Austria scored both first-half goals before the break. David Affengruber opened the scoring in the 23rd minute with a header, after a free kick taken by Romano Schmid, while shortly before the end of the first half Patrick Wimmer set up Junior Adamu for the second goal.

Foda reacted at half-time with three substitutions and Kosovo came back better in the second half: Vedat Muriqi wasted two clear chances in front of goalkeeper Christian Zawieschitzky. In the 60th minute, Austria scored the third — goalkeeper Arijanet Muriç failed to hold the ball after a low cross by Paul Wanner and Carney Chukwuemeka sent it into the net. The “Dardanët” narrowed the gap about ten minutes before the end, from the penalty spot.

Foda said after the match that he was pleased with his players. “The team never gave up and fought until the end to turn the match around. If we look only at the statistics, the match was even. But Austria was extremely good at exploiting our mistakes. Their speed, movements and transitions from defense to attack were very good,” he said after the match.