One of the wonders of the World Cup is that it often brings two very different teams together on the same pitch.
That will be the case when Austria takes on Jordan at Levi’s Stadium in the wee hours of Wednesday morning.
This will be Jordan’s first-ever match in the World Cup, while Austria is making its first trip to the tournament since 1998.
These two teams play very different styles of soccer.
After they failed to qualify for the 2022 World Cup, Austria hired Ralf Rangnick to take over its national team. Known as one of the godfathers of modern soccer, Rangnick is one of the most influential managers in the history of the sport. He is often credited with bringing gegenpressing, which is based on applying pressure as soon as you lose possession to win the ball back, to the mainstream.
Don’t expect Austria to sit back.
Expect the opposite out of Jordan.
In terms of talent, Al-Nashama are near the bottom of the pool in this 48-team field, so they know their best chance of sticking around and pulling off an upset will be through defending deep and hitting on the counter or through a set piece.
Manager Jamal Sellami has no issue loading the box with defenders, forcing opponents to be patient, or take low-percentage shots from far away from the goal.
Parking the bus is a viable way to win matches at the World Cup, especially as an underdog, and it can make a team like Austria uncomfortable. Das Team wants the game to be moving, but Al-Nashama will try to bring it to a screeching halt.
If Austria tries to force the issue, Jordan can punish the Austrians on the counter, mostly relying on their star man, Mousa Tamari, to provide the threat. Tamari can do the job, as he showed at Rennes in Ligue 1 this season, but he’ll have to do a lot of heavy lifting in this game and tournament.
Austria’s attack, headlined by Marko Arnautovic and Marcel Sabitzer, should have too much talent to be completely contained by Jordan’s low block, but I expect the underdogs to have their fair share of chances as they catch Rangnick’s bunch getting too aggressive.
The Play: Over 3.5 goals (+172, FanDuel)
Michael Leboff is a long-suffering Islanders fan, but a long-profiting sports bettor with 10 years of experience in the gambling industry. He loves using game theory to help punters win bracket pools, find long shots, and learn how to beat the market in mainstream and niche sports.
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