Alaba, who became the primary Austrian to urge the award at a serious tournament, not only delivered as a central defender but he also found out their second goal within the 3-1 win.
Austrian coach Franco Foda faces a dilemma about where to play regular left-back David Alaba after the captain won the man-of-the-match award for his sparkling performance as a central defender in their Euro 2020 opening convert North Macedonia.
Alaba, who became the primary Austrian to urge the award at a serious tournament, not only delivered as a central defender but he also found out their second goal within the 3-1 win.
The performance earned Alaba praise from his coach and he also staked a claim for that position once they face Netherlands in their second Group C game on Thursday.
The versatile 28-year-old, who joined Real Madrid after leaving Bayern Munich at the top of the season, reverted back to his usual leftback/winger role within the last half to drive the sport forward.
"It remains to be seen," Alaba said when asked whether he would still play as a central defender against the Dutch, who beat Ukraine 3-2 in their opening match.
Foda had wanted Alaba to assist launch their game from the defence with more control and stability against the North Macedonians who played with two forwards in Goran Pandev and Aleksandar Trajkovski.
"Our intention was that like that we could launch our game better against two strikers," Foda said.
"That was the rationale behind this decision. i used to be very, very satisfied with him over the whole 90 minutes. He organised the defence, talked with the defenders and also those ahead of him."
The Dutch also play with two strikers which could mean that Alaba might be back at the guts of the Austrian three-man backline on Thursday.
"We want to select up points there also ," said Alaba.
