SOCCER: Austria fight back from early red card to beat Tunisia

VIENNA — Marcel Sabitzer netted a second-half winner for 10-man Austria as they overcame early scares to beat Tunisia 1-0 on Monday in their international World Cup warm-up match at the Ernst Happel Stadium.

Sabitzer, winning his 98th cap, swept home a square pass from the right flank from Stefan Posch to break the deadlock in the 63rd minute.

Austria, preparing for this month’s tournament in Canada, Mexico, and the United States, had been on the back foot after Konrad Laimer was dismissed in the 37th minute for a deliberate handball that denied Tunisia a goal-scoring chance.

The North Africans, who are also World Cup-bound, struck the woodwork three times in the first half through Hannibal Mejbri, Firas Chaouat, and a curling free kick from Anis Ben Slimane.

Austria showed plenty of resilience in fighting back after the break. Just a minute after Sabitzer’s goal, they could have been up by two. Tunisia goalkeeper Abdelmouhib Chamakh pushed substitute Marco Friedl’s effort onto the post, and Posch then hit the rebound onto the crossbar.

Austria will open their Group J campaign at the World Cup against Jordan in San Francisco on June 16. Meanwhile, Tunisia has another warm-up match against Belgium in Brussels on Saturday before heading to Monterrey, Mexico, where Sweden will be their first opponent in Group F on June 14. -Writing by Mark Gleeson in Cape Town; editing by Pritha Sarkar/Reuters