When Andreas Weimann was accidentally prodded in the face by a journalist’s tape recorder on Saturday evening, he just took it on the chin.
It is what the young Aston Villa striker does.
It is what he did when he was spat on and jeered by his own people after being carried off on a stretcher during his return to boyhood club Rapid Vienna in a Europa League tie two years ago.
It is what he did when he opened his senior goals account with the vital last-gasp winner over Fulham in front of a relieved Holte End in March, effectively keeping Villa in the Premier League.
And it is what he will do following the dream double, which turned into a nightmare during last weekend’s gut-wrenching Villa Park defeat to Manchester United.
Weimann’s brace against the Red Devils prompted the scramble for sound-bites that caused one scribe to get closer to the Austrian forward than Rio Ferdinand, Chris Smalling and Co had managed all game.
Despite being bumped in the face with a recording device, the 21-year-old flashed his trademark smile and continued to politely explain his tumultous emotions following his wonderful personal contribution to a cracking contest at Villa Park.
After impeccable finishing came impeccable manners and impeccable English from the adopted Brummie, whose level-headed upbringing by his sporting parents back home in Vienna and his Bodymoor Heath mentors will eventually help him make sense of Saturday’s cruel finale as he continues his impressive progression to first team regular.
Ordinarily, Weimann’s first two goals of the season should have been a cause for celebration, especially coming against the league leaders. As it was, he departed Birmingham for Austria’s midweek international friendly against Ivory Coast still soul-searching and still hurting after United’s trademark comeback inflicted an undeserved 3-2 defeat on Paul Lambert’s young team. At first glance it would seem an antidote to the pain will be particularly hard to come by in Villa’s match away at title-chasing Manchester City this weekend.
However, Weimann and friends have already knocked Roberto Mancini’s multi-millionaires out of the Capital One Cup this season and he is convinced the performance, if not the result, against United will provide them with much encouragement against the reigning Premier League champions.
“I should be happy because I scored two goals against Man United but we lost the game so I don’t know how to feel at the moment,” admitted Weimann in the immediate aftermath of the pulsating 3-2 defeat.
“I think you’ve seen the way we played against Manchester United and at the moment we think we can take on anyone. I’m sure at Manchester City we’ll be the same.
“We went to Manchester City in the cup and got a win. It’s definitely going to be a really hard game, but we’re going to go there after this performance with a lot of confidence and I’m sure that if we play like that we’ve got a chance of getting something.
“Right now everyone’s down, but the gaffer said after the game if we keep playing like that we’ll get results, even against the top teams.
“You saw against United that we were capable of going 2-0 up and we should have got something. It was a good performance and obviously we lost the game, but we keep improving.
“With the young players we all get on with each other because we’re all around the same age.
“You’ve seen over the last few weeks that everyone works as hard as they can for the team. That’s what’s going to get us up the table, hopefully with a good result at Manchester City.”
Win, lose or draw at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday afternoon, Weimann will no doubt take it on the chin.
