Defender Michael Svoboda from the Italian first division club Venezia is in the squad for the Austrian national football team for the first time, which Rangnick announced on Monday in Vienna. Werder Bremen captain Marco Friedl is also returning to the ÖFB team after being absent for over two years.
Gernot Trauner and Michael Gregoritsch, who missed the first Nations League double with games in Slovenia (1:1) and Norway (1:2) due to injury, are back in the team. Striker Andreas Weimann, who was recently left out of the European Championship after taking part in the European Championship, received the trust. This time there was no place in the 25-man squad for the offensive players Marco Grüll and Arnel Jakupovic, who were each only called up on call.
More on the topic
Marcel Hirscher: “I’m no longer the professional I used to be”
Rangnick has to cope with several failures in central defense. In addition to captain David Alaba, Kevin Danso is also missing for the time being, whose health problems that were discovered during his transfer from Lens to AS Roma, which was canceled a month ago, have not yet been fully resolved. Salzburg’s Samson Baidoo has recently been plagued by calf problems, Leeds legionnaire Maximilian Wöber may be out longer due to his knee problems and surgery.
That opened the door for Svoboda, who won promotion to Serie A with Venezia last season. The 25-year-old Viennese has been working in Italy for four years and is a regular player in Venice. Friedl was last called up by Rangnick in September 2022. The Tyrolean played his last of a total of five international matches in June 2022 in Denmark (1:2). The 26-year-old defender is a manager in Bremen – and as such he recently expressed his incomprehension about not being included in the ÖFB team for so long.
The squad at a glance
- Tor (3): Niklas Hedl (SK Rapid/1 international), Patrick Pentz (Bröndby IF/12), Alexander Schlager (Red Bull Salzburg/15)
- Defense (9): Flavius Daniliuc (Hellas Verona/3/0 goals), Marco Friedl (Werder Bremen/5/0), Philipp Lienhart (SC Freiburg/25/1), Phillipp Mwene (FSV Mainz/17/0), Stefan Posch (Bologna/ 38/1), Alexander Prass (TSG Hoffenheim/11/0), Leopold Querfeld (Union Berlin/4/0), Michael Svoboda (Venezia/0), Gernot Trauner (Feyenoord Rotterdam/13/2)
- Midfield (9): Christoph Baumgartner (RB Leipzig/44/16), Florian Grillitsch (TSG Hoffenheim/47/1), Konrad Laimer (Bayern Munich/42/5), Marcel Sabitzer (Borussia Dortmund/84/19), Romano Schmid (Werder Bremen/ 17/1), Matthias Seidl (SK Rapid/5/0), Nicolas Seiwald (RB Leipzig/30/0), Kevin Stöger (Borussia Mönchengladbach/2/0), Patrick Wimmer (VfL Wolfsburg/17/1)
- Sturm (4): Junior Adamu (SC Freiburg/7/0), Marko Arnautovic (Inter Milan/118/37), Michael Gregoritsch (SC Freiburg/59/16), Andreas Weimann (Blackburn Rovers/25/2)
On call: Nicolas Kristof (SV Elversberg/0), Dejan Stojanovic (SCR Altach/0) – Emanuel Aiwu (SK Sturm Graz/0), Jonas Auer (SK Rapid/0), Kevin Danso (RC Lens/23/0), Stefan Lainer (Borussia Mönchengladbach/39/2) – Muhammed Cham (Trabzonspor/3/0), Marco Grüll (Werder Bremen/5/0), Mathias Honsak (FC Heidenheim/0), Dejan Ljubicic (1. FC Köln/9/1 ) – Maximilian Entrup (LASK/3/1), Arnel Jakupovic (NK Osijek/0), Benedikt Pichler (Holstein Kiel/0)