International matches

Austria’s young soccer talents on stage

Austria's U16s with team manager Hermann Stadler will play twice in Oberwart.(Bild: ANDREAS TROESTER)

The youngsters in front of the curtain! Austria's U16 team will face Macedonia twice this week in Oberwart, while the U17s will be in action three times in Wr. Neustadt (against Slovenia, Norway and Spain). Players from the Burgenland soccer academy will also be playing for team honors these days.

Team boss Franz Ponweiser's U15s kicked things off at the beginning of March with two friendly international matches against Slovakia in Draßburg and Mattersburg, this week Oberwart is the stage for Austria's young footballers. The U16s will test against their peers from Macedonia at the Informstadion on Wednesday (6pm) and Saturday (12.30pm).

Team boss Stadler is very much looking forward to it

"We're really looking forward to finally getting started again. The last training course was in October, almost half a year ago," says team boss Hermann Stadler ahead of the home double. "Now in spring, team building is at the top of our list. We have to become a unit when we start the U17 qualifiers in the fall."

Hermann Stadler is looking forward to the start of spring.(Bild: ANDREAS TROESTER)

Elite round for the U17s in Wr. Neustadt

For the current U17s, this is already bitterly serious, with three games in Wr. Neustadt against Slovenia (Wednesday, 12 noon), Norway (Saturday, 12 noon) and Spain (Tuesday, 5 p.m.) for a ticket to the European Championship finals in Cyprus. "Slovenia, Norway and us will certainly meet on equal terms, Spain is the favorite in terms of name," says team manager Martin Scherb, who is hoping for many spectators and, with Ilia Ivanschitz, also has the son of Baumgarten's former team captain Andi Ivanschitz in the squad. He plays for Red Bull Salzburg

Exceptional talent Ilia Ivanschitz(Bild: ANDREAS TROESTER)

Three players from AKA Burgenland in action

Johannes Polster and Gabriel Macic will represent AKA Burgenland in the Austrian U18 team that will face Italy in Merano on Thursday and Sunday. "Botond Szeker is also in the Hungarian U17 team, which will face such strong opponents as England and France in the elite round," says sporting director Patrick Glavanits, not without pride.