ÖFB Team "Really Fired Up" for Duel with Cyprus in Football World Cup Qualifiers

"There is a positive tension, we are really excited about the game and full of anticipation," said Nicolas Seiwald on Thursday in Cyprus. However, the respect for Cyprus is great before the duel in the Football World Cup Qualifiers.

Football World Cup Qualifiers: ÖFB Team Warned About Cyprus' Pressing

"This is a team that can do something in possession if you give them space." Seiwald assumes that the Cypriots will press earlier this time than in September in Linz. His recipe against it is: "We want to achieve high ball recoveries and score goals, and we want to perform like a home team." In the home games against Romania and Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cyprus was 0:2 behind and then managed a 2:2. "This shows that this team has mentality and wants to take at least one point, even if it seems to be over. We have to be careful."

ÖFB Team Remains True to Its Philosophy in Duel with Cyprus

Despite the recent setback with the 0:1 in October in Bucharest against Romania, they will not change their own philosophy, emphasized Seiwald. "Against Romania, it wasn't the playing style, but how we executed it. The idea remains the same, of course with details adjusted from opponent to opponent." Seiwald doesn't even want to deal with the worst-case scenario - Austria could theoretically finish third in Group H - and merely stated: "If we don't get the points we need, we don't deserve to go to the World Cup."

Seiwald: "World Cup is Even Bigger Than European Championship"

Participating in the 2026 finals in the USA, Canada, and Mexico is the big goal. "At a World Cup, you notice, no matter where you are in the world, everyone suddenly goes football crazy. A World Cup is even bigger than a European Championship," said the 24-year-old. Seiwald's first vague World Cup memories date back to 2006, as he was not yet born during the ÖFB team's last World Cup appearances in 1998. "I know relatively little about World Cups with Austria," admitted the Salzburg native. "Cordoba is the only thing you hear about, and 1998 was not groundbreaking for Austria. We really want to go and write a new story."

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(APA/Red)

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