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Sebastian Soto primed for strong second half in Austria

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It has been a long and frustrating wait for American forward Sebastian Soto, but after months of spectating from the sidelines, Soto is ready for his first opportunity in the Austrian Bundesliga.

Soto is set to make his competitive debut for Austria Klagenfurt this weekend as the top-flight side hosts LASK in the Austrian Cup Quarterfinals. The former Hannover and Norwich City forward joined Austria Klagenfurt in August from Norwich City but had to wait until mid-October to receive his work permit.

After training with the first team to end 2022, and scoring five goals in five winter friendlies for Peter Pacult’s squad, Soto is now ready to hit the ground running as Austria Klagenfurt resumes its schedule.

“I’m ready, I feel very comfortable in the team and I will do everything I can to achieve our goals this season,” said Soto in a club interview.

“Those were really tough weeks for the lad,” Managing Director Matthias Imhof said in an interview about Soto. “But I was impressed by the fact that he always remained positive and never complained. Soto behaved very professionally in this difficult phase and showed a great attitude. I am very happy for him that he is now in such good shape and I am convinced that we will have a lot of fun with him.”

Soto also scored three goals in two appearances for Klagenfurt’s B team last October, giving him a promising start to life in Austria. The former U.S. Under-20 youth national team standout has bounced around between several countries over the past few seasons, but now has a great opportunity to get back to his best.

Austria Klagenfurt faces LASK in the final eight of the Austrian Cup before continuing its league campaign against Austria Vienna, which sits only one point behind them in the Bundesliga standings. Soto’s resiliency and production during winter camp will have him prepared for the job at hand this weekend, in what the American will hope is a kickstart to a consistent long-term role at the club.

Comments

  1. Soto, De La Fuente, Hoppe – all young guys with an allergy inoculated by Pulisic into the youth of the US…an allergy to MLS. Soto should know better. Meanwhile you have players like Jack Harrison, Miguel Almiron and many others excelling in Europe after coming to MLS to play.

    Middlesborough B to Hibs?! Olympiakos bench to Hull City?!
    Second division Dutch league to Mid table Austrian league?!

    Come home guys, seriously….

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