The U21 European Championship ended prematurely for Marco Friedl and Austria, after a 1-1 draw against Germany and the Eggestein brothers cemented a third place finish in Group B. Despite the early exit, the defender was proud to have been part of Austrian history as he spoke to WERDER.DE. “By qualifying for the tournament, we created history. No other Austrian team has ever done that before.”
A deciding factor in Austria’s departure was, in Friedl’s eyes, the tough 3-1 defeat against Denmark. “We brought it onto ourselves,” says Friedl. Even in the final game against his Werder teammates Maximilian and Johannes Eggestein, the Austrian side had chance to progress. “I think we were the better side over 90 minutes. We definitely deserved a victory but it wasn’t to be,” explained the Werder man, who played the full game. Despite a strong performance, the result wasn’t enough to advance to the latter stages
Marco Friedl will go into a short summer break with his head held high and fond memories of the tournament. “It is unbelievable what we have achieved. I will never forget it,” said the 21 year old. Now, rest and recovery are the priorities for the break from football. The defender will miss the start of pre-season this Friday (28/06/2019), but will return to the squad after a holiday with a lot of confidence and self-belief thanks to a historic summer.
