No blame for Dragovic penalty miss, says Austria coach Koller

Paris (AFP) – Austria coach Marcel Koller absolved Aleksandar Dragovic of any blame after the central defender missed a costly first-half penalty in Wednesday’s 2-1 loss to Iceland at Euro 2016.

Dragovic assumed spot-kick duties after David Alaba was fouled by Ari Skulason with Iceland leading 1-0, but the Dynamo Kiev centre-back struck his 37th-minute effort against the outside of the post.

It proved a pivotal moment in the Group F contest as Austria, who needed to win to reach the last 16, levelled through Alessandro Schopf but eventually crashed out after Arnor Ingvi Traustason scored deep into injury time in Paris.

“I choose two penalty-takers, David (Alaba) and Dragovic. They have to agree on the pitch who will take it,” explained Koller.

“The one who feels better shoots. Dragovic assumed responsibility and there’s nothing to blame him for.”