Austria coach resigns at media conference ahead of Scotland friendly

Austria manager Franco Foda has announced his resignation in the middle of a media conference to promote his side’s match against Scotland.

Foda has told the assembled media that Tuesday’s friendly against Steve Clarke’s side in Vienna will be his last in charge.

The coach has taken responsibility for Austria’s failure to reach the World Cup finals. After finishing behind Denmark, Scotland and Israel in their qualification group, the team had the second chance of a play-off spot they earned in the Nations League.

That play-off pitted them against Wales in the semi-final, knowing that they would then play Scotland or Ukraine to reach Qatar 2022.

However, Foda saw his team lose 2-1 in Cardiff, their hopes ended by a Gareth Bale double at Cardiff City Stadium.

“I’ve been thinking a lot over the past few days,” Foda said when announcing his departure. “I finally made my decision yesterday evening.

“It was still rumored that I might have had the option of extending my contract. But that didn’t matter to me anymore, because I took responsibility for [the failure].

“It was a great honor for me to coach and work with this team. It was four and a half great years.

“My successor can look forward to a team with impeccable character that is good and has a lot of potential for development.”