The 33-year-old insisted that in order to be successful against the Croatian, a significant improvement is necessary compared to Thursday’s 0:2 at the Stade de France. “It was not that good against France, but hopefully we will show against Croatia what we are capable of,” Arnatovic said. The Viennese were encouraged by the presence of the OFB in a 3–0 win against the Croatians in Osijek in June. He said, ‘We played well, we want to continue this performance. We know Croatia have a very strong team, but we are ready.”
Real Madrid star Luka Modric is different from the strong Croatian team. “Not much to say about him, he has shown a lot in his career. To me he is one of the best players in the world at this position. He continues to show that he can play at the top level, Arnautovic said of the 37-year-old midfielder. “But we shouldn’t look at individual players, we should focus on ourselves.”
While Arnautovic has Serbian roots, many of his Croatian friends will be in the stadium, the striker said. However, he doesn’t feel particularly inspired by it. “I am inspired in every game, be it against Croatia, France or any other team,” the Italian legend insisted. It only shrugs a shoulder at OFB international level that so many supporters of Croatian selection will be sitting in the stadium. “It doesn’t matter that there are more Croats than Austrians. We have to focus on our game,” said Arnautovic.
Little favorite for Croatia Susiko
Red Bull Salzburg’s Croatian supporter Luka Susic can only follow the game from afar. Linz’s 20-year-old would be a candidate for A selection, but was nominated for the European Championship play-offs for the U21 team. Nevertheless, he watches with great interest the showdown in Prater, where, according to Susik, a relatively balanced game can be expected. But he believes “Croatia is the little favorite in this game,” said the APA midfielder.
“You could see in the first game that it would not be easy for us because Austria have a good team. Also, the new coach (Ralph Rangnick, ed.) provided extra good encouragement.” The Austrians’ success against Croatia in Rangnik’s debut was not solely due to the Germans taking over, stressed Susik. “One factor that was certain was that Luka Modric and some of the other key players were not there.” But this should not be an excuse. “Austria did really well in the first stage, while everything was not as we had imagined for ourselves.”
The Croatians would be first in the group with a win against the OFB team and thus in the last four for the Nations League title. In addition, the guest appearance at Happel Stadium serves to check form ahead of the World Cup, which begins in November, where Belgium, Morocco and Canada will face each other in the group stage. In the desert, a surprise similar to that of 2018, when Croatia sensationally reached the final, should succeed. “First of all we want to do well in the group stage and get through. Then we’ll see. But we definitely have high quality in the team, so if we get a run, a lot is possible,” Susik said.
