Austria will fill up half a dozen against Moldova
Austria’s national team is the clear favorite in the World Cup qualification in the away game against the Republic of Moldova.
ÖFB team boss Franco Foda.
APA / pool
Austria’s national team travels to Chisinau on Wednesday with a positive balance for the World Cup qualifier. The ÖFB selection has won the last five duels with the Republic of Moldova team, but these were always hard-won victories – including the last meeting so far. On October 9, 2017 in Chisinau in the World Cup qualifying in the last match under team boss Marcel Koller, a difficult 1-0 away win was achieved.
Die ÖFB-Kicker only prevailed twice with a difference of two goals, always one hit was decisive. The first ever guest appearance in the 2.5 million-inhabitant state ends on June 7, 2003 in Tiraspol as part of the European Championship qualification with a 0-1 defeat for Austria.
ÖFB team against Republic of Moldova clear favorite
In view of the latest results of the Moldovans, another ÖFB disgrace seems rather unrealistic. The Eastern Europeans started last March with a 1: 1 home against the Faroe Islands in the current World Cup qualification, after which they offset an 8: 0 against the Danish B team and a 1: 4 home against Israel, which means they are in Group F. is in last place in the table after three rounds. Moldova’s record of the last 19 international matches is 16 defeats and three draws, the last victory so far dates from June 8, 2019, when Andorra was defeated 1-0 in the European Championship qualifiers.
So far, Moldovans have been waiting in vain to participate in a major tournament. After all, many a surprise success has been achieved since the association became independent in 1990 – not only the 1-0 win against Austria, but also a 3-2 win against Wales (1994, European Championship qualification) or a 3-0 win against Hungary (2007, European Championship qualification) in front of the home audience. In the FIFA ranking, Moldova is 175th, Austria in 23rd place.
The Republic of Moldova team is looked after by the Italian Roberto Bordin. The 56-year-old played for Napoli in Serie A, among others. As head coach, he coached Sheriff Tiraspol and Neftschi Baku before taking over the position of team manager in February of this year. Bordin coaches the selection of a country that has recently started a Champions League. Sheriff Tiraspol from the breakaway region of Transnistria sensationally made the leap into the group stage, but the national team didn’t really take advantage of it. Thanks to the millions of the sheriff corporation ubiquitous in Transnistria, the cadre of the serial master consists almost exclusively of legionnaires. Two current team players (goalie Dumitru Celeadnic and defender Alexandru Belousov) are under contract with Sheriff Tiraspol, but they were not used in the decisive play-off match against Dinamo Zagreb.