Meets on Monday Austria’s national team of men in Cyprus where we spend five days together preparing for the final in the World Cup qualification prepared. On November 15th they will face the hosts in Limassol, and three days later they will play their last game in Vienna Bosnia-Herzegovina.
Ralf Rangnick called up 26 men on Tuesday, including 22 field players. In the squad is with Nicholas Kristof a debutant. The goalie from the German second division team Elversberg is there as the fourth goalie. The team leader about…
… his squad size: We have nominated 22 outfield players because Alaba and Mwene are still suspended in Cyprus. As for David, we have to wait and see whether he will be able to play in the game against Bosnia after his injury.
… Alabas Fitnesszustand: He had a muscular injury to his calf. When he started training again, it appeared again, just in a different place. He is not yet in team training, but there is a chance that it will work out for the second game.
… the fitness level of returnee Xaver Schlager: At the time of his injury, it was not clear whether this would happen this calendar year. But he is healthy and fit to play, but hasn’t played more than 45 minutes yet. We will see during the training week whether it makes sense to use him right from the start. We also have to think about the fact that there will be a second game afterwards.
… the situation of Michael Gregoritsch, who is only a substitute at Bröndby: He only played 31 minutes last month. When he moved to Bröndby in the summer, there was another coach there during the talks. I would also prefer him to play regularly. But it’s not entirely unusual either. We played at the European Championships with five or six players who had played little or not at all for their clubs.
… the preparation for Cyprus: We have five days of training before the first game and want to take advantage of the conditions. We have good weather and good training grounds. Our team manager Lennart Coerdt examined everything on site and said that in his long career in professional football he had never been to five better locations.
… opponents Cyprus: They haven’t lost a game at home and have come back twice from 2-0 down. This won’t be a game that we’ll decide with average performance.