P W D L F A Pts
POLAND 6 4 1 1 8 2 13
SLOVENIA 6 3 2 1 12 5 11
AUSTRIA 6 3 1 2 13 6 10
N MACEDONIA 6 2 2 2 8 8 8
ISRAEL 6 2 2 2 11 11 8
LATVIA 6 0 0 6 1 21 0
Revelation
KONRAD LAIMER
Austria
Three wins, a draw, a goal, four
assists and praise a plenty for his
all-action efforts in his country’s
engine room, the 22-year-old
RB Leipzig central midfielder has
enjoyed a wonderful start to life
with Austria’s national team.
Ferociously leading the press
and playing quick snappy passes
to generally keep the tempo
high, here is a man eager to
impress – and it’s easy to
understand why.
First called into the fold backin June 2017, he did not see any
action on that occasion and for
the next two years remained in
the deep freeze. “I’ve had to be
patient and my chance finally
has come,” he says. “I was
determined to give the best
possible account of myself.”
During his first 18 months with
Leipzig, who he joined in 2017,
he was often unconvincing and
only in the second half of last
season did he truly nail down a
first-team slot.
Many believe Austria’s long-
term defensive midfield duo will
be formed by Laimer and Xaver
Schlager, who is currently out
with a broken ankle. The pair
played together for Salzburg
from the age of 13.Austria and North Macedonia, and when
starting in the 4-0 home win over Israel
he got the ball rolling in spectacular
fashion, with a right-foot screamer from
an acute angle.
No doubt about it, he is currently
Poland’s lucky charm. Since making
his debut in 2018 he has been on
the scoresheet four times in seven
appearances, a solid rate of return
by anyone’s standards.
No one should be startled by his
exploits in the international arena. After
all, he was one of Europe’s most prolificmarksmen last term, putting away no
fewer than 34 chances for clubs and
country, including 30 in Italian league
and cup action: 19 in the first-half of the
season for Genoa, then 11 more following
a move to Milan in January. Not bad at all
for a Serie A rookie.
Piatek’s performances for Milan have
not exactly been awe-inspiring of late,
with some suggesting that his style does
not suit the complex attacking schemes
of Milan coach Marco Giampalo.
What Poland boss Jerzy Brzeczek now
has to work out is how best to use him.- 0 3 .19 Israel-Slovenia 1-1
- 0 3 .19 N Macedonia-Latvia 3-1
- 0 3 .19 Austria-Poland 0-1
24.03.19 Israel-Austria 4-2
24.03.19 Slovenia-N Macedonia 1-1
24.03.19 Poland-Latvia 2-0
07.06.19 Latvia-Israel 0-3
07.06.19 N Macedonia-Poland 0-1
07.06.19 Austria-Slovenia 1- 0
10.06.19 Poland-Israel 4-0
10.06.19 Latvia-Slovenia 0-5
10.06.19 N Macedonia-Austria 1- 4
05.09.19 Israel-N Macedonia 1-1
06.09.19 Slovenia-Poland 2-0
06.09.19 Austria-Latvia 6-0
09.09.19 Slovenia-Israel 3-2
09.09.19 Poland-Austria 0-0
09.09.19 Latvia-N Macedonia 0-2
10 .10 .19 Latvia-Poland
10 .10 .19 N Macedonia-Slovenia
10 .10 .19 Austria-Israel
13 .10 .19 Slovenia-Austria
13 .10 .19 Poland-N Macedonia
15 .10 .19 Israel-Latvia
16 .11.19 Slovenia-Latvia
16 .11.19 Israel-Poland
16 .11.19 Austria-N Macedonia
19 .11.19 Poland-Slovenia
19 .11.19 Latvia-Austria
19 .11.19 N Macedonia-IsraelGROUP G
Eager...LaimerProlific...Piatek