Patrick Pentz |

18.11.2021

From the national team to crunch time in the league

Goalkeeper Patrick Pentz returned fresh and lively from his first national team trip. One experience richer, the 24-year-old looks forward to the hot finish of the year. In the away match against fourth-placed Austria Klagenfurt (Sunday, 2:30 p.m., live at Viola Sportsbar), the Veilchen have the chance to overtake a direct rival with a win.

(c) GEPA

The call from the national team came on the free Sunday evening after the last Bundeliga game, when Patrick Pentz was in Salzburg with his family. "Then I packed my things and flew to Klagenfurt on Monday. That was really cool," stresses Patrick Pentz. While his Austria teammates trained in Vienna-Favoriten last week, Pentz worked with ÖFB goalkeeper coach Robert Almer, Heinz Lindner, David Alaba, Aleksandar Dragovic & Co. for Red-White-Red.

(c) GEPA

Robert Almer still knows Patrick Pentz from their years together at Austria Wien. The time with the national team was instructive for the 24-year-old, and the training with players from top international leagues showed him what is important, especially for our young talents:

"Our young players have a lot of talent - but it takes a lot more than that, and that has now been confirmed with the national team. It's a huge opportunity for each and every one of them to be able to play for Austria Wien's first team at such an early age. We simply have to push our young players. If they get everything out of themselves and really step on the gas, then their path can go anywhere," explains the Austria goalkeeper.

„Auf unserem Weg halten alle zusammen“ - Patrick Pentz

Patrick Pentz thinks the path taken by the youth is good and right. The 24-year-old senses how the mood in the entire club is changing for the better: "We've been on a new path since the summer. A lot has changed. We now want to consistently go our way together - even if it may take a few years for success to return. Everyone is sticking together to get Austria back to where it belongs. You can tell throughout the club that there's a good atmosphere again: whether it's with the kit attendant, the bus driver or in the office."

Our path leads us to Austria Klagenfurt on Sunday (2:30 p.m., live at Viola Sportsbar). Two points separate the Veilchen from fourth in the table at the moment: "Klagenfurt is certainly the surprise team of the league. They had many close games. A difficult opponent awaits us, and we must not underestimate them. But we definitely want to bring our game through," says Pentz.

Trend-setting games until the winter break

Eight games are still to be played in the basic round, four of them before the winter break. Austria still plays Austria Klagenfurt (Sun., Nov. 21, 2:30 p.m., a), Sturm Graz (Sun., Nov. 28, 2:30 p.m., h), Rapid (Sun., Dec. 5, 5 p.m.) and LASK (Sun., Dec. 12, 5 p.m.) this year. There are only five points between fourth and twelfth place:

"Anything is possible. Now, in any case, there are four games coming up that are trend-setting for the play-off - crunch time as they say," stresses Patrick Pentz. Thanks in no small part to the purple number one, Austria has so far conceded the second fewest goals after Red Bull Salzburg (17 in 14 games):

"We have managed to stabilize the defense. That is a basic prerequisite for being successful. What I think makes us stand out at the moment is that we have several systems in stock and can also switch during the game."