The national team coach, Vladimir Petkovic, has turned the focus towards the confrontation with Austria scheduled for next Sunday morning, Algeria time, at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, after the “Greens” revived their chances of reaching the round of 32, following the valuable victory over the Jordanian national team in the second round of the tenth group competitions hosted by the San Francisco Stadium.
The teammates of the brilliant defender Ramy Bensebaini increased their preparations immediately after their return to their residence in Lawrence, on the outskirts of Kansas City, where the Bosnian coach devoted Tuesday’s session to recovery, especially for the elements that fought against Jordan, given the great physical efforts they made, as well as the trouble of moving between Kansas City and San Francisco, on a trip that lasted nearly three hours.
In an atmosphere characterized by calm and focus, the players began work again on the floor of the “Rock Chalk Park” stadium affiliated with the University of Kansas, as the technical staff divided the numbers into two groups. The first included the basic elements that participated against Jordan and underwent a special program under the supervision of the physical report and the medical staff, while the rest of the players went through a full training session to maintain the competition format and ensure the readiness of all elements.
With the fate of the national team in his hands, Vladimir Petkovic does not seem to want to leave any detail to chance, as he began raising the level of tactical and mental preparedness, by programming video analysis sessions for the matches between Austria against Jordan and Argentina, with the aim of identifying the opponent’s strengths and weaknesses, in an effort to exploit them during the upcoming date between the two teams.
The “Greens” coach is aware that the Austrian team, despite its loss to Argentina, showed great tactical discipline in positioning and speed in switching from defense to attack, but on the other hand, it revealed some gaps in the back line, and these are aspects that Petkovic seeks to invest in with his players in order to prepare the most appropriate plan to play a match that may be decided by small details.
On the other hand, the national voter is keen to keep the group in the highest levels of focus, realizing that the victory over Jordan restored spirit to the team and gave it the opportunity to decide its own destiny, but it has not yet given it a pass. Therefore, the days leading up to the confrontation with Austria will be very important, as the Bosnian technician will work to raise the physical readiness of his players to match a strong competitor, while continuing the mental preparation and careful study of his playing style.
As the date of the match between Algeria and Austria approached, part of the Algerian audience recalled memories of Gijon in the 1982 World Cup in Spain, when the West German and Austrian teams colluded on a result that eliminated Algeria from the second round, despite the “Greens” achieving two historic victories, so that match remains one of the most controversial stations in the history of the World Cup.
However, Haj Musa’s companions realize that the next date is more important than limiting it to revenge, which requires continuing to work, raising the level and providing a better performance than the level they showed against Argentina and Jordan, while avoiding the defeat that might hasten their departure from the global football competition.
