ÖFB kicker up close: players and fans were on a first-name basis

The day after the 5-1 win over Ghana, the team boss’s kickers announced themselves Ralf Rangnick close to the people and defied the low temperatures and the latent wind. Wrapped up tightly, they grabbed pens and went to work, signing balls, jerseys, scarves and caps. Patrick Pentz and Nicolas Seiwald had fun as they posed for various selfies together and made faces.

Coherent picture

At the top of the stands was calm ÖFB boss Josef Pröll and had fun with the picture that presented itself to him below. “This shows that the national team is a magnet with its successes. And that the new campus also provides the right stage for this. It is booming and is well booked, the players and supervisors feel at home here.”

This closeness to the fans is a personal concern for the ÖFB boss. “Perhaps that’s the difference to club football, where there often isn’t time for that. I think it’s a key in the future not just to talk about this closeness, but also to live it.”

Pröll sees the victory over Ghana as the right “booster” at the right time. “It was also nice to see that our new players, who chose Austria, performed like that. You need something like that, especially in front of 40,000 spectators in the stadium.” This could already be seen as increasing euphoria. “It’s going the way I imagine.”

give inspiration

goalkeeper Alexander Schlager was even available for an interview with a girl and was clearly having fun. “I think it’s wonderful because events like this were the greatest thing for me as a child. I was like that back then too, unfortunately never at an international match, but my dad often took me to the Salzburg games.”

Now he wants to give something to the next generation as a role model. “That’s also a reason why you do it. It’s nice to see how euphoric the children are. It’s important for us to create this closeness, and all the players are always happy when something like this comes about.” Schlager praises the new campus highly: “It’s perfect, we have every opportunity here.”

That’s exactly how it looks Nicolas Seiwaldwho scored his first team goal against Ghana. “We find great conditions here. The rooms are cool, the facility is beautiful, the food is good and the places to train are fantastic.” The campus, a single dream concert. Seiwald, now a legionnaire and a seasoned national team player, was sought after by the young fans.

“It’s a great feeling when you see so many children here. I hope that I can be a role model. The players were also an inspiration to me as a child back then.” As a David Alaba or Marko Arnautovic. “I’m younger and I looked up to them back then.”