Arnautovic breaks record: The ÖFB goal factory is running hot!

Arnautovic breaks record: The ÖFB goal factory is running hot!

Marko Arnautovic made history with his outstanding performance in the World Cup qualifier against San Marino and established himself as the new record goalscorer for the Austrian national team (ÖFB). With four goals in the impressive 10-0 win in Vienna, he overtook the previous record of 44 goals held by Toni Polster and now has a total of 45 goals to his name reported that Arnautovic has thus gone down in the history books.

Arnautovic, who has also been the record national player with 128 international matches since September 2022, was emotional about his success. After the game, he hugged his father in the audience and spoke of a “very nice moment.” The pressure to break Polster's record had increased in recent weeks, but Arnautovic was also very proud and recognized Polster as a great legend of Austrian football. He also achieved the impressive feat of becoming the fourth Austrian to score more than three goals in an international game since the Second World War; previously only Hans Krankl, Erich Probst and Erich Hof had achieved this.

Criticism from Polster

However, Toni Polster, the former record holder, was critical of Arnautovic's record. In an interview with ORF, he congratulated Arnautovic, but noted that he had played more international matches. In addition, Polster left no doubt that he believed he had scored at least three more goals, which were unofficial and not recorded in the statistics. His attempts to resolve this issue in court were unsuccessful . In addition, he also made fun of the fact that, in his opinion, the San Marino team resembles “a selection of pizza chefs”.

In a Facebook post, Polster was also disappointed about Arnautovic's lack of singing along to the national anthem, which made waves on social media. To celebrate the record change, he shared several articles and reports about the event and its significance on his Facebook page , like that that the fans of Austrian football were able to closely follow the changes in the top scorers list.

Historical context

These achievements take place in a historical context that goes back to the beginnings of Austrian football. The Austrian national team was founded during the Austro-Hungarian Empire and has featured a number of significant successes and legendary players ever since. The team's greatest success was third place at the 1954 World Cup, followed by the memorable game in 1978 when Austria defeated Germany - an event that went down in history for fans as the "Miracle of Córdoba". So far there have been 793 international matches with 332 wins , plays The national team plays its home games in the Ernst Happel Stadium in Vienna.

In summary, Arnautovic's record represents a significant turning point not only for him personally, but also for Austrian football as a whole. The ongoing discussions about the goalscoring statistics and the legacy of Polster show the passionate commitment of the fans and the rivalry that characterizes the sport in Austria.