After his record-breaking goal in Bratislava, Austria's international footballer Christoph Baumgartner was absolutely ecstatic. "Of course it's really cool, I'm very happy," said the RB Leipzig professional after the Austrian team's 2:0 (1:0) victory over Gasteber Slovakia on Saturday.
The 24-year-old scored after just seven seconds to take the lead and thus scored the earliest goal in Austrian international match history. The broadcaster ORF even described it as the fastest goal of all international matches played worldwide to date, citing its archive. According to ORF, the previous fastest scorer was Belgian Christian Benteke, who scored in 8.1 seconds against Gibraltar in the World Cup qualifier in Faro on October 11, 2016.
Despite his performance, Baumgartner was modest. "The fact that I hit it like that and that it's apparently a world record is of course sensational. I'm especially pleased that I was able to help the team. That's the most important thing about the goal," he said.
The Leipzig man had outplayed three opponents after Michael Gregoritsch's kick-off and then marched unhindered towards goal. His shot from just outside the penalty area was perfectly placed in the left corner. National coach Ralf Rangnick was not sparing with his praise for his player. "That was a special goal. You can only take your hat off and congratulate Baumi," said Rangnick.
Baumgartner wants to remember the special day and announced that he will keep the jersey from the game. "I was already thinking during the game that it won't be that much faster - maybe it's an Austrian record. But the fact that it really is a world record is of course something special," he said. However, there was no official confirmation of this on Saturday evening.
Copyright 2024, dpa (www.dpa.de). All rights reserved
