As Jarrod Bowen closes in on Michail Antonio’s Premier League tally in a West Ham United shirt, a forward who once called East London home broke a record of his own on Thursday evening.
On a mixed night for West Ham’s internationals, Jarrod Bowen impressed off the bench for England, Michael Forbes captained Northern Ireland’s Under-21s and scored as well, while Konstantinos Mavropanos had the Greek fans fuming after a nightmare second half in Scotland.
As for Marko Arnautovic, while the former West Ham United striker had his sights firmly fixed on a thumping victory over perennial whipping boys San Marino, the Austria legend never even envisaged that he could be going into the weekend with his place firmly secured in the international record books.
Shortly after Arnautovic scored his first-ever Europa League goal during a 1-1 draw between Red Star Belgrade and Celtic, the 36-year-old again seized the chance to prove that age is indeed just a number.
Netting four of Austria’s eventual haul of ten against San Marino, the one-time Inter Milan, Bologna and Stoke City forward is now officially the top scorer in his country’s history.
It’s been a long time in coming.
Former West Ham United striker Marko Arnautovic breaks Austria record
On a remarkable evening at the Ernst Happel Stadium, every single one of Ralf Rangnick’s outfield starters ended the game with either a goal or an assist.
Has that ever happened before? Statisticians, that is your task for the day.
By taking his tally to 45, Arnautovic finally overtook the previous record-breaking tally set by Toni Polster a quarter of a century ago.
With his 37th birthday approaching – Arnautovic has already confirmed his retirement plan in 2026 – the mercurial veteran must have feared that he was running out of time in his attempts to chase down Polster.
No wonder the tears flowed, then, when he was reunited with his father in the tunnel at full-time in Vienna.
“The best day of my life was the birth of my children, but this comes right after. That’s something extraordinary,” an emotional Arnautovic tells Laola 1.
“I was born in Austria, I grew up here. I never expected that I would break the goalscoring record. This is a very, very nice moment for me.
“Our goal was to win by double digits. The goal record wasn’t a topic of conversation at all before the game. I asked the manager not to talk about it. If it happens, it happens. But after the second goal, I realised everyone wanted me to score two more goals.”
Arnautovic reflects on ‘unforgettable day’ as Austria beat San Marino 10-0
Doubling his tally with a close-range finish from a Romano Schmid cross – West Ham scouted the Werder Bremen midfielder ahead of the summer window, by the way – a cool right-footed finish with only minutes to go completed Arnautovic’s hat-trick and drew him level with Polster.
His fourth of the night, and his 45th in total, would arrive before the end.
“I was emotional, didn’t know whether to laugh, cry or scream,” Arnautovic added, swamped by his delighted Austria teammates.
“Throughout all the training sessions, they always told me; ‘Come on, finally break the record.’ But that was never an issue for me. The only thing I care about is going to the World Cup!
“I think I’ve received 7,000 messages. I have to go through them first. It’s going to be a long night for me. My wife already wrote to me that I shouldn’t give the jersey away. I promised it to San Marino’s goalkeeper in the first half and, after the game, I told him, ‘I’m sorry, I broke the record, I can’t give it to you.’
“The jersey has a lot of meaning for me. It’s definitely going into my collection!
“An unforgettable day. Everything was perfect. The stadium was almost full, we won by double figures for the first time, I broke the goalscoring record, and [group rivals] Bosnia only drew 2-2.
“What else can I say?”
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