In every game, the same question worries the minds of Austrian fans: which version of Marko Arnautovic will they be dealing with?
The one that shines intermittently or the one that completely derails?
Sunday June 12, for the entry into play of "das Team" in its Euro against North Macedonia, they were entitled to both.
Substitute at kick-off, the 32-year-old striker scored the third and last goal of this victory (3-1) ... but found nothing better to do than insult one of his opponents.
Just after his goal, the player formed a zero with his fingers, before yelling in the direction of Macedonian left side Ezgjan Alioski.
And nothing very nice.
According to Informer, a Serbian media, like the father of the person concerned, the latter would have seen fit to shout: "I fuck your Albanian mother", in reference to the origin of his vis-à-vis.
Much to the despair of his captain, David Alaba, who pounced on him to try to silence him.
"A fantastic person, but the behavior of a child"
Result: a suspension match inflicted by UEFA, which did not retain racism in its sanction, synonymous with absence, Thursday, June 17, during the defeat (2-0) of its selection against the Netherlands , but which will allow him to be present for the decisive confrontation for a qualification in the round of 16 against Ukraine, Monday (6 p.m.). If the latter apologized on Instagram, denying himself to be racist, his partners and his staff now find themselves forced to devote part of their press conferences to defending their sulphurous partner.
The advantage is that they are used to having to talk about the behavior of their imposing center-forward. Since the start of his career, the player has accumulated extra-sporting slippages on and off the field. In Twente, the Netherlands, his first club abroad (2006-2009), he is already accused by Ibrahim Kargbo, player of Willem II. A file closed without follow-up by the federation. He continued with a brief stint at Inter Milan (2009-2010), where he hardly played, but found a way to annoy his coach at the time, José Mourinho, disappointed by this "fantastic person, but with the behavior of a child ”.
But it is in Bremen (2010-2013), that the player really builds his legend: Arnautovic fights with a partner in training, is openly criticized in the press by his captain, describes his club as a “dirty box”, injures himself while playing with his dog, provokes a policeman during a traffic stop in Vienna, is sidelined for a nightclub before a match or for speeding on a German motorway with his partner Eljero Elia.
Exasperated, Bremen sold it to Stoke City in 2013.
"Ibrahimovic has always been important to me"
"I promise you Marko will make me sound like the most boring guy in the world!" He's one of the craziest guys I've ever met, ”Mario Balotelli explains to the English press. If it seems for a while to settle down in the Premier League and achieves some good performances, he leaves West Ham for China in 2019. An inglorious outing for the one whose imposing physique - he measures 1.92 m -, the post , the sense of provocation and the Balkan origins have sometimes led to compare him to Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Even if his career has earned him, from his detractors, the nickname "poor man's Zlatan".
“Ibrahimovic has always been important to me and I've been trying to copy some things from him since the start of my career. But we cannot be compared. He has achieved much greater things than me ”, admitted in an interview with the Sun the one who had distinguished himself by spitting on the Dutchman Kenny Tete, during a friendly match of Austria just before Euro 2016.
For two years, the player has lived in Shanghai, where he wears the colors of the SIPG, and plays in a championship that he has, by his own admission, "underestimated". “I wasn't training. I wasn't taking care of my body. I was eating. I drank soft drinks, ”admitted the person, whose name is regularly cited for a return to Europe in the coming weeks. In the meantime, there is a round of 16 Euro to go for against Ukraine. And without additional escapism, if possible.
