World Cup qualification: Foda refreshes FB team

In EM, the then Rapidler Demir was still on the list. He made his debut in the FB team in March as a 17-year-old in a World Cup qualifying home game against the Faroe Islands (3-1). Compared to the 26-strong EM squad, Florian Keynes, Philipp Mwene and goalkeeper Heinz Lindner also made it to the OFB selection. Apart from Kalajdzic and Lainer, Valentino Lazaro, Karim Onisivo, Marco Friedl and replacement target Pavao Pervan have not been called.

The line-up for next week’s World Cup qualifying doubles against Moldova (Wednesday, September 1) and Israel (Saturday, September 4) as well as home games against Scotland in Vienna (Tuesday, 7 September, 8:45 pm) . ORF1) by Real Star David Alaba.

Demir. In “Extreme Development”

Contrary to expectations, Demir made it to the professional team at Barcelona and also made his competitive debut on Saturday. Rapid Loan had already impressed in several Test matches, which Foda and his coaching staff saw for themselves in stages at the stadium.

“He has developed immensely over the past few weeks and he seems a lot more open-minded on the phone. You can see that a change can make a difference”, said Demir, the team boss and certified “extraordinary quality”. Future Will tell if it will remain an integral part of the national team.” Ultimately, it’s up to him. They have to improve their performance,” said Foda.

Maven also appreciated

There were also positive comments about the Eindhoven general Mwene. “I spoke to his trainer Roger Schmidt on the phone, he praised him on Clover. Mwene is very reliable and feels a lot of mobility in the game,” said Foda. The German is already a full-back to the EM squad. But then he was dropped from the final squad. This time Mwene is definitely the first, but probably only because of a serious injury to Lanner. “Otherwise he would probably have been on the call,” said Foda. Same on Cara also applies, replacing Kalajadzik, who, like Lanner, has been unsuccessful for months.

Pervan’s lack of match practice at Wolfsburg was fatal, with Lindner inheriting his place, and storm keeper Jörg Siebenhandl was also an issue, according to Foda. Onisivo had long been suffering from a coronavirus disease and only started team training in Mainz on Tuesday, so a nomination would come very quickly. According to Foda, Lazaro has not been allowed to train with professionals at Inter Milan for the past ten days, “which is unbelievable to me that something like this happens at a club like Inter. Apparently they want to sell it, ”the German suspected.

Positive from Kenj and Arnautovic

Florian Keyz overcame a serious injury – the Styrian made a lucrative performance this summer at 1. FC Köln and thus returned to the team. “He is back,” Foda said of his former hero in Sturm Graz. The team owner was also satisfied with Marko Arnatovic, who scored twice in his first two competitive games for the new club after moving from China to Bologna. “Now there is no discussion about whether he can come in the national team or not. In that sense, we are all happy.”

While Arnautovic’s professional future is clear, some of the team’s players are still on hold. Marcel Sabitzer and Florian Grilitsch have been linked with transfers to the big clubs, with the transfer window closing next Tuesday, the day before the Moldova match. “But I think the players are professional enough to deal with such situations,” Foda said.

tight schedule

The 55-year-old welcomed his team on Monday for the first time since a European Championship round of 16 against Italy, a flight to Chisinau a day later, and resumed play against the bottom of Group F a day later. . So there is practically no time for the actual preparation. “All we have to do is convey our principles and patterns of action to the team with lots of video sequences,” Foda explained.

The tight schedule for September’s course is a result of international matches canceled last year due to the coronavirus pandemic, which will now have to be put on hold for World Cup qualifying to end on time. Still, Foda has only limited understanding for it, especially as Wednesday’s appointment unfolds before him. “You should think about something in FIFA and UEFA in the future.”

“We have our backs on the wall”

After three games out of ten, Austria is only fourth in the group, five points behind leaders Denmark. In addition, the EM semifinalists have 16 goals better than goal difference. “We know Nakshatra. We didn’t perform as well as we thought in March and now our backs are against the wall,” Foda said.

However, the team boss missed the most recent European Championship qualification, when they also started with two defeats. This was followed by six wins and one draw, and thus determined the EM ticket. “It’s a positive for the team to know that they’ve dealt with a situation like this before,” Foda said. However, group rank two was sufficient at the time – with this placement the OFB team would only be in the play-offs this time, which it probably somehow qualified for due to the Nations League group victory in 2019.

FB team for World Cup qualification

Tor: Daniel Bachmann (Watford/6 International), Heinz Lindner (FC Basel/28), Alexander Schlager (LASK/6)

Defense: David Alaba (Real Madrid / 85 international matches / 14 goals), Alexander Dragovic (Rotor Stern Belgrade / 94/2), Martin Hinteregger (Eintracht Frankfurt / 59/4), Philipp Leonhardt (SC Freiburg / 6/0), Philipp Mwene (PSV Eindhoven/0), Stefan Posch (TSG Hoffenheim/11/1), Christopher Trimmel (Union Berlin/14/0), Andreas Ulmer (Red Bull Salzburg/26/0)

Midfield: Julian Baumgartlinger (Bayer Leverkusen/84/1), Christoph Baumgartner (TSG Hoffenheim/14/4), Florian Grillitz (TSG Hoffenheim/26/1), Stefan Ilsenker (Eintracht Frankfurt/55/0), Florian Keinz (1.FC ) Cologne / 16/0), Konrad Laimer (RB Leipzig / 13/1), Marcel Sabitzer (RB Leipzig / 54/8), Louis Schaub (1.FC Cologne / 22/6), Xaver Schlager (VfL Wolfsburg / 24 / 1), Alessandro edema (Armnia Bielefeld / 29/5)

attack: Marko Arnautovic (Bologna / 91/27), Yusuf Demir (FC Barcelona / 1/0), Michael Gregoritz (FC Augsburg / 29/5), Erkan Cara (Rapid Vienna / 1/0)

On demand: Pavao Pervan (VfL Wolfsburg/7), Jörg Siebenhandl (Sturm Graz/2), Sikan Stankovic (AEK Athens/4), Richard Straubinger (Rapid Vienna/1) – Kevin Danso (RC Lens/6/0), Marco Friedl ( Werder Bremen / 3/0), Gernot Trauner (Feyenoord Rotterdam / 5/1), Maximilian Ullmann (Rapid Vienna / 0), Maximilian Wober (Red Bull Salzburg / 6/0) – Hussein Bialik (LASK / 1/0), Thomas Goiginger (LASK / 1/0), Raphael Holzhauser (Beerschot / 2/0), Jakob Gentscher (Sturm Graz / 23/1), Valentino Lazaro (Inter Milan / 32/3), Dejan Ljubicic (1.FC Cologne / 0), Reinhold Rheinftal (Schalke / 6/0), Stefan Schwab (PAOK Saloniki / 1/0), Hans Wolf (Borussia Monchengladbach / 0) – Adrian Grubic (FC Lorient / 9/4), Marco Grul (Rapid Vienna / 0), Karim Onisivo (FSV Mainz / 12/1)