ÖFB: Major anger over Pristina's 'dirt patch'

Maybe a Meadow, More Like a Dirt Patch

"What we will find here tomorrow… I have rarely seen such an unkempt pitch as this one," the coach complains.

"At best, this is a meadow, if not even a dirt patch," the German fumes.

Patrick Wimmer adds: "Where I've played in recent years, we're used to something different. I haven't played on a meadow like this in a long time."

test — Ralf Rangnick ist sauer
Foto: ©IMAGO / Branislav Racko

In Dublin, everything was spick and span again. "The contrast between the pitch in Ireland and this one couldn't be greater," he says in Pristina.

"Hard to Understand"

The pitch here also explains in retrospect "why so many shots went wide of the goal in the Kosovo-Ireland match," says Rangnick. Out of 25, 16 missed their target.

The ÖFB head coach is dumbfounded: "It's only early October, we're coming out of a wonderful period of good weather, so it's hard to understand why the pitch is in such a condition."

He is aware that it will therefore "not be so easy for either team to play technically refined football."

Wimmer's Childhood

Rangnick emphasizes that Kosovo actually has technically skilled players: "It will also play a role who copes better with these conditions."

Wimmer, meanwhile, is reminded of his childhood: "I grew up on a meadow like this, so I know it. Actually, it's nice to see something like that, but only if you're watching a Sunday league game."