He wasn’t actually brought in for the professionals, but for the Young Violets. And he wasn’t actually hired to score goals. But often things turn out differently than planned. Jonas Feddersen quickly gained a foothold at Austria . In the second leg against Liepaja (3:1) he initiated the turnaround with a remarkable goal and put the Violets on course towards the 3rd qualifying round in the Conference League.
It was the 20th minute and Austria was 0-1 behind. Central defender Feddersen let three opponents get out of the opponent’s box and hit the corner with a well-placed shot. For the 19-year-old German, who came from Dortmund’s second team, it was the first goal for the Violets in his second appearance. “The fact that it goes like that in the first home game is perhaps a bit of fate. It couldn’t have gone better.” His best goal so far? “Definitely in the top 3.”
Stayed down to earth
Feddersen already feels really comfortable in Vienna and at Austria. But he doesn’t know exactly what caused him to score. “I don’t know what was going through my head when I started dribbling. If I lose the ball, I’ll get pissed off.” But he didn’t. He was well received by the team, but even after his successful start he is far from taking off. He already knows how to assess the situation well, as he emphasizes: “I was definitely a bit lucky with our personnel situation.” He is referring to the failures in defense (Dragovic, Wiesinger). Postscript: “But I think I made a pretty good impression.
Feddersen took advantage of his chance, which didn’t go unnoticed by coach Stephan Helm: “Jonas did a more than good job. He’s reliable, has a good left foot, is tall and has the confidence to do something.”
For Austria, the Bundesliga starts in Wolfsberg on Sunday. The first leg of Q3 of the Conference League is scheduled for Thursday. The opponent is Beitar Jerusalem, the Israelis prevailed in a penalty shootout against AEK Larnaka. The Violets first have to play away on Thursday – but not in Israel. Due to the security situation in Israel, Beitar plays its home games in Ploiesti, Romania. The best-known player is ex-Bundesliga professional Shon Weissman. Helm sees Beitar “on an equal footing. It will be a good challenge.”