Andrade and his teammates beat SCR Altach 4-2 in extra time in a vibrant final played in Klagenfurt.
LASK Linz wrote a golden page in its history this Friday by becoming champions of the Austrian Cup after beating SCR Altach 4-2 in extra time, in a final full of intensity played at the Wörthersee stadium in Klagenfurt.
On a special afternoon for Panamanian soccer, defender Andrés Andrade was the starter and protagonist.
The team led by Didi Kühbauer had to fight from behind on several occasions, but ended up imposing their hierarchy in extra time with a decisive performance by Samuel Adeniran, scorer of two goals. Moses Usor and George Bello also contributed to the score, while Patrick Greil and Vesel Demaku had put Altach ahead in regulation time.
The match began at a frenetic pace. Just in the 5th minute, Altach surprised with a volley from Greil after an aerial play, taking a 1-0 lead. However, LASK’s reaction was immediate and Usor equalized in the 10th minute with a powerful shot from the area. The exchange of blows continued and Demaku put Vorarlberg’s team ahead again in the 30th minute with a shot from outside the area.
Despite LASK’s territorial dominance, the tie did not come until the 66th minute, when Adeniran hit a spectacular volley after an assist from Sasa Kalajdzic to make it 2-2, sending the final to a dramatic close. In the final minutes of regulation time, both teams created chances, but the score did not move, forcing overtime.
Already in extra time, LASK definitively tipped the balance. At 101′, George Bello took advantage of a cross from the right to make it 3-2, and just two minutes later, Adeniran scored his double with a precise finish that sealed the final 4-2. The expulsion of Marlon Mustapha in the 108th minute left Altach with no options to react.
For Andrés Andrade, this title has a special meaning. The Panamanian defender completed a solid performance at the back and thus earned his first trophy with LASK, a club he joined in 2018.
After starting in the reserve team, he has built a consistent career that has already accumulates 142 games in two stagesincluding his return in 2023 after his time at Arminia Bielefeld in Germany. Now he has a contract until June 2028.
The cup championship represents a historic achievement for LASK, which lifts the Austrian Cup for the second time after having lost four finals (1967, 1970, 1999 and 2021) after winning it in 1965. That was the same year where they won the Austrian Bundesliga.
The atmosphere in the city of Klagenfurt lived up to the occasion, with 22,000 fans adding color to a vibrant final.
The ceremony showed Andrade in the center of the stage and wearing the Panama flag with him.
