MEXICO CITY, JUN 17: Austria marked its return to the FIFA World Cup after a 28-year absence with a tense 3-1 win over debutant Jordan in a Group J clash on Tuesday, relying on a second-half own goal and a last-gasp penalty to claim the three points.
Austria took the lead on 20 minutes through a Romano Schmid thunderbolt, but was pegged back five minutes after the break when striker Ali Olwan found space in the area and fired a sizzling shot inside the far post.
AS IT HAPPENED | AUSTRIA VS JORDAN HIGHLIGHTS
Austria’s veteran target man Marko Arnautovic slammed a low shot into the net from a goalmouth scramble in the 69th minute, but it was ruled out for handball by teammate Stefan Posch following a VAR review.
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Seven minutes later, though, Austria was celebrating again as Yazan Al-Arab deflected a Marcel Sabitzer corner into his own net, before Arnautovic slotted home a penalty deep into stoppage time after Saleem Obeid was penalised for handball.
Player Ratings
Austria
Schlager (7.7), Posch (6.8), Lienhart (7.7), Alaba (7.3), Mwene (6.4), Seiwald (7.5), Schlager (8.0), Schmid (7.6), Laimer (6.7), Sabitzer (7.5), Kalajdzic (6.5) | Substitutes: Arnautovic (7.6), Danso (6.7), Chukwuemeka (5.9), Wanner (6.2), Wimmer (21)
Jordan
Abulaila (5.8), Haddad (6.5), Nasib (6.4), Al-Arab (6.6), Taha (7.3), Fakhouri (6.7), Al Rashdan (7.1), Al-Rawabdeh (7.8), Olwan (7.7), Tamari (6.5), Abualnadi (6.3) | Substitutes: Obaid (6.0), Al-Rosan (NA), Al Mardi (NA), Al-Daoud (NA), Al-Azaizeh (NA)
