To understand the size of Austria’s 2-1 defeat of Germany you need only realise Sebastian Prodl wasn’t born the last time his country beat their neighbours to the north.

The 31-year-old Watford centre-back played the entirety of the clash in Klagenfurt as Austria came from behind to secure victory in the driving rain.

For Prodl, the win, which saw goals from Martin Hinteregger and Alessandro Schopf cancel out Mesut Ozil’s early opener, provided a memorable night in his international career.

“I wasn’t alive the last time we beat them, so it was obviously a big win for us in a big game. It was a very good atmosphere in Austria with everyone supporting us,” Prodl said.

“We got one goal back and from there we were on the front foot and tried to beat them. We deserved the win in the end and made a great performance as we competed at the highest level. This performance level is what we expect from ourselves.”

While scratching a 32-year itch against Germany was satisfying, the win brings into focus the disappointment of Austria’s failure to qualify for the World Cup.

The pain of not making it to Russia remains, but coming from behind to down the world champions should not be sniffed at.

Prodl says focus now turns to securing a spot at Euro 2020 and believes performances in keeping with the one produced against Germany show they are progressing.

“We want to transfer this display into the European Nations League which starts in September. What hurts the most is that we are able to compete and we are not going to the World Cup. We have to make sure we are at the next tournament,” he said.

“We have moved on from not making the World Cup, but we have moved on and we are trying to focus with a new coach and new target of qualification for 2020.

“I think we are capable of doing that with the quality we have in our squad. We have a good, young squad with a new coach and the belief to qualify. The last result showed we can do that.”