“We will remember this”

Gernot Trauner was immediately relieved and happy about his goal. There was also concern about his injury after being substituted. After Austria's 3-1 win in their European Championship group match against Poland, one can certainly talk about an exciting day at work for the Feyenoord player.

With his second international goal, Trauner put the national team ahead in the ninth minute. “It was a very important goal. I will always remember that,” said the 32-year-old, who has repeatedly struggled with injury problems this season. It's very special – that I'm even at the European Championships after such a difficult year and then playing too. I'm glad I'm here. The fact that I was able to cap it off with a goal is fantastic. But today I have mixed feelings.”

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The crying eye affects its associated injury after about an hour. “I felt my muscles a little bit before the match. When I took a longer step they closed a lot. I hope it's not too bad. Tomorrow we will do the tests, and then I hope to be back in the team soon,” Trauner explained after the end of the match.

The break will not only be bitter because the Austrian top player could have fought for a place in the team thanks to his performance, but also because the third match in the group will be against the Netherlands. And so against his adopted country. “I live in this country, I see everything and I really look forward to it,” Trauner does not hide how much this confrontation affected him. Two of his Feyenoord teammates were in the 'Orange' squad: “There could have been two more, but they were injured. Of course we told each other beforehand that it would be special if I was there. I'm here now.”

What exactly did he bring to the ÖFB game? “I try to adopt the structure of playing from the back and playing passes between the lines of the team.” Team boss Ralf Rangnick completely replaced Austria's centre-back for the Poland match. Trauner and Philipp Leinhart started in place of Kevin Danso and Maximilian Wobber, who were biased towards the yellows.

Trauner has already worked alongside Freiburg's corps during the test in Switzerland: “But I can't see us as a pair. All the players in the centre-back position can play. We all get along well on a personal level and we talk about the scenes so that the coordination is right.”