At the European Championship dress rehearsal

Austria’s final test against Switzerland – from 6pm

Gernot Trauner (right) and Co. performed strongly against Switzerland, but they were unable to secure a win ...

(Bild: APA Pool/APA/KEYSTONE/PETER KLAUNZER)

Austria's national soccer team is not going into the European Championship in Germany with the longest winning streak in the history of the association, but nevertheless with a lot of self-confidence! The ÖFB team drew 1:1 (1:1) against Switzerland in St. Gallen on Saturday, making it seven games unbeaten. After taking an early lead through Christoph Baumgartner (5'), it was Switzerland's Silvan Widmer (26') who made sure that it wasn't enough for their seventh win in a row.

ÖFB team boss Ralf Rangnick made eight changes to his starting line-up compared to Tuesday's 2-1 win over Serbia in the final home test before the EURO. Only midfielders Nicolas Seiwald, Romano Schmid and Christoph Baumgartner remained in the team. Flavius Daniliuc, Philipp Lienhart, Gernot Trauner and Phillipp Mwene formed the completely new defense in front of goalkeeper Heinz Lindner, who played his first international match in more than 14 months after recovering from testicular cancer. Lienhart played with a head bandage due to a cut over his eye.

Swiss practically at their best
Michael Gregoritsch started in the center of attack instead of Marko Arnautovic, with Rangnick relying on Florian Kainz behind him. As Arnautovic and Marcel Sabitzer were rested on the bench with street shoes, Konrad Laimer acted as captain. While Rangnick only sent around half of his European Championship squad onto the pitch, the Swiss were practically at their best in front of 18,731 spectators in the sold-out Kybunpark, with the exception of USA international Xherdan Shaqiri.

(Bild: EPA/Peter Klaunzer)

Baumgartner scores his 15th goal for the national team
The game started five minutes late because a goal net had to be temporarily repaired with cable ties. After just as long, the ball was already in the net. Kainz set up Baumgartner after the Swiss had lost the ball. He set off on a solo run deep inside his own half, overran the entire Swiss backline and also beat goalkeeper Yann Sommer. It was the 24-year-old's 15th goal for the national team - he has scored in each of his last five international matches. The last time Hans Krankl had achieved this in ÖFB kit was in 1976.

Widmer scores to make it 1:1
The Austrians also scored in the first ten minutes of their fourth international match this year. At times, however, they defended deeper than they are used to. Switzerland had more possession, but hardly created any clear chances to score - until Ruben Vargas let Daniliuc slide into space on the left. Lindner allowed his shot from an acute angle to bounce forward and Widmer dusted it off to make it 1:1.

(Bild: APA/KEYSTONE/GIAN EHRENZELLER)

ÖFB team much better in the game in the second half
At the break, Stefan Posch, Florian Grillitsch and Patrick Wimmer, three potential starters, came on for Daniliuc, Kainz and Baumgartner. From the 67th minute, Rangnick also gave his center-back duo Kevin Danso and Maximilian Wöber playing time, with Matthias Seidl coming on ten minutes later. The Austrian side continued to press in the opposition half in the second half and were much better in the game as a result. Sommer saved a direct corner from Wimmer with his fist (64'). After a pass from Wimmer, Gregoritsch also failed to beat the Inter Milan goalkeeper (82').

(Bild: AFP)

Respectable success after three consecutive defeats
The ÖFB team have only managed seven wins in a row in their history from 1933 to 1934 and from 2017 to 2018, but after three consecutive defeats against Switzerland, they once again achieved a respectable success in the neighboring duel. The Swiss have only lost one of their last 14 international matches. The ÖFB team can point to having conceded only three goals in the last seven and having scored at least once in 17 games in a row.

After 2016 (0:2 against the Netherlands) and 2021 (0:0 against Slovakia), they failed to win their third consecutive European Championship dress rehearsal. The ÖFB players were given three days off after the match before checking into their European Championship quarters in Berlin on Wednesday. The European Championship opener is scheduled for a week from Monday (June 17) in Düsseldorf against title favorites France. The Swiss start the tournament on Saturday (June 15) in Cologne against Hungary.

The result:
Switzerland - Austria 1:1
St. Gallen, Kybunpark, 18,731 spectators (sold out), referee Maria Caputi (ITA)

Goals: 0:1 (5.) Baumgartner, 1:1 (26.) Widmer

Yellow cards: Xhaka or Seiwald, Wimmer

Switzerland: Sommer - Elvedi, Akanji (76. Stergiou), Rodriguez (76. Zesiger) - Widmer, Freuler, Xhaka (76. Sierro), Ndoye - Zuber (42. Aebischer), Vargas (67. Okafor) - Amdouni (67. Shaqiri)
Austria: Lindner - Daniliuc (46. Posch), Lienhart (67. Wöber), Trauner (67. Danso), Mwene - Laimer (76. Seidl), Seiwald - Schmid, Kainz (46. Grillitsch), Baumgartner (46. Wimmer) - Gregoritsch