On June 28, Austrian striker Sándor Kalajdzic secured a last-minute equalizer for his team against Algeria in a Group J match, then sat down for an interview with FIFA.

The Austrian striker had pulled his team back from the brink of elimination, and his comeback story—full of setbacks and returns—had reached its peak.

At Children's Mercy Park in a Group J match, Austria faced Algeria. In the 95th minute, Kalajdzic scored a crucial goal, securing a stunning draw for his team.

After the match, Kalajdzic was emotional in the interview. He took a deep breath before answering questions but was visibly moved.

He remained overwhelmed by everything that had happened.

"Honestly, I... I don't even know what to say anymore, it's unbelievable," Kalajdzic said. "It's a truly unbelievable moment."

He had become a "hero" for his country. His story spread rapidly on social media, and Austrian fans celebrated their new hero. The nearly two-meter-tall striker had saved Austria's World Cup campaign in the best possible way.

As the match went to extra time, Algeria's Mahrez scored to make it 3-2, nearly confirming Austria's elimination. But Kalajdzic delivered a stunning equalizer in the final minute, sending his team to a penalty shootout against Spain and eventually to the round of 32.

In the coming days, his jersey would become a symbol of this "impossible" achievement, and Kalajdzic would continually cherish the opportunity he had earned in this tournament.

Yet Kalajdzic's story was far from ordinary. He had faced numerous difficulties along the way, and even coach Rangnick had not anticipated such a narrative.

"If someone had told me six months ago that Kalajdzic would be called up to the national team and could score such important goals in recent weeks, no one would have believed it," Rangnick said.

Before this historic match, Kalajdzic had suffered a serious injury.

After arriving at Stuttgart in 2019, he soon suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury to his left knee, which also included cartilage damage and bone fractures.

After recovering from the injury, he regained form in the Bundesliga and transferred to Premier League Wolverhampton in August 2022. However, he suffered another injury on his Premier League debut and was substituted at halftime.

Since then, he had missed a total of 767 days due to injury and had barely played consecutive matches in England.

In 2024, he returned to Germany and joined Eintracht Frankfurt, but after just five matches, he suffered another serious injury—a second anterior cruciate ligament and lateral collateral ligament tear to his right knee.

"At that point, I wanted to give up on everything," Kalajdzic reflected.

Entering the 2025-26 season, he returned to Austria and joined LASK Linz, where he gradually regained regular playing time, scoring seven goals and providing 11 assists.

Rangnick said, "This shows that as long as you keep moving forward, set goals every day, and work to achieve them, results will come. I'm very happy for him."

Regarding the match result, Rangnick said, "After conceding, we were shocked, but that's football. Sometimes in life and in matches, there are special moments that stay with you forever."

At that moment, Austria was on the brink of elimination, and Kalajdzic watched from the bench as his team faced elimination. Rangnick decided to bring him on as a last resort.

After the match, Kalajdzic said, "When they scored, I thought, 'Okay, it's time to prove yourself. I'm ready.' Thank God we took our chance and scored. I think all of Austria can breathe again. I'm excited, emotional, really speechless right now."

He came on in the 95th minute to replace Mwene and scored the crucial goal one minute later.

"I'm happy I could contribute to the team," he said. "We're on a journey, we're on an adventure, a story like a storybook, and we want to keep writing it. This victory proves our spirit—we're always ready, no matter the circumstances, we'll give our all, we'll fight for our country, we'll make our people proud. We showed that today."

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