On October 14th at 2:45 am Beijing time, Austria will have a key battle against Norway at home in the fourth round of the UEFA B League. Prior to the match, Austria's head coach Rangnick expressed his expectations for the match and shared his thoughts on the Norwegian team and star player Harland in a press conference.
Rangnick emphasized that the match is about the fight for the top spot in the group and they are eager to get a win in order to take the initiative to get out of the group. He noted that if Austria can beat Norway, they will be the group leaders and approach the challenge with that mindset.
Regarding Norway, Rangnick said that they are a strong opponent and that he would be surprised if Norway fails to qualify for the World Cup. He mentioned that the key to the game will be Austria's own performance, and that they will have to show bravery and aggression like they did in Thursday's 4-0 win over Kazakhstan. He also updated the team's injury situation, confirming that all players are now available.
Talking about the 1-2 defeat against Norway in the first leg in September, Rangnick was impressed with Harland's performance and believes that Harland is the benchmark for all players in the position, with his jumping ability being second to none. He acknowledged that Norway have great players and are very united tactically, so Austria will need to run more to win more second balls. Rangnick believes that if Austria puts more into the game and shows more willingness to run and sprint, they will have a chance to win those two-point goals and in turn create scoring chances.
In addition, Rangnick mentioned the fact that the Austrian team has not beaten Norway at home for 45 years. He encouraged the team to break this long winless spell and emphasized that in the last two and a half years they have broken many records, including many long standing ones. He believes that records are meant to be broken and that the Austrian team is capable of writing a new chapter in their history by beating Norway at home.
