Nations League

LIVE from 6pm: Rangnick announces ÖFB squad

ÖFB team manager Ralf Rangnick

(Bild: GEPA pictures)

Defenders Kevin Danso and Maximilian Wöber will return to the Austrian national soccer team squad for the Nations League matches against Kazakhstan in Almaty on November 14 and against Slovenia in Vienna on November 17. This was announced by team boss Ralf Rangnick on Tuesday.

Danso was last in the ÖFB squad at the European Championship in Germany and was then absent due to extensive investigations into alleged heart problems. Wöber had to miss the October training course due to knee surgery.

Kevin Danso

(Bild: GEPA)

The recently nominated defenders Flavius Daniliuc, Marco Friedl and Leopold Querfeld are now only on the call-up list, which also includes attacker Raul Florucz from Slovenian league leaders Olimpija Ljubljana for the first time. Should ÖFB team boss Ralf Rangnick's side win the final two Nations League games, they would finish top of Group 3 in League B and thus join the top nations in the top division.

If October's performances are anything to go by (4-0 against Kazakhstan, 5-1 against Norway), this could well happen. "We want to show our soccer again. You've seen what you can achieve with that in the last two games. It's important that we can build on these energetic performances," said Rangnick at his squad press conference in Vienna on Tuesday evening.

"We fly seven hours there and eight hours back"
Even the grueling trip to Almaty, some 300 kilometers from the Chinese border, should not stop the ÖFB team on their way to finishing first. "We fly seven hours there and eight hours back. The biggest challenge will certainly be how we deal with this journey, how we cope with it. We have to play with the same intensity as in the two games before, then we have it in our own hands against Slovenia to win the group," explained Rangnick and added: "I am firmly convinced that we will cope well."

The ÖFB squad will take off from Vienna-Schwechat next Wednesday at 1.30 pm, with a scheduled return at 4.50 am on Friday. In between, the clash with the Kazakhs will take place at 16:00 CET. "We won't be changing the clocks and will stay in our time zone when we land," said Rangnick. He did not want to make too much of the trip to Asia. "I also sat on the bus for five or six hours for an away game with Reutlingen in the 3rd division," said Rangnick.

Maximilian Wöber

(Bild: GEPA/GEPA pictures)

Two returnees
Danso will be one of the players on the plane to Almaty. The central defender was cleared to play a few weeks ago following extensive heart examinations. "It was important that he played again straight away and did a good job," Rangnick said of the Lens international. Wöber has not yet played after his knee operation, but according to the team boss, the defender has been back in team training with Leeds United for a week.

The team boss was tight-lipped about the recent turmoil in the ÖFB and his possible contract extension. "It's all about these two international matches now, that's our complete focus," Rangnick explained in this context. There have been no talks about a contract extension so far, Rangnick confirmed.

(Bild: GEPA/GEPA pictures)

The fuss within the ÖFB has not really died down since the most recent executive committee meeting in October. Managing director Bernhard Neuhold and general secretary Thomas Hollerer are still in office, although president Klaus Mitterdorfer has been instructed to terminate their employment contracts. According to various media reports, there will be a meeting between the ÖFB top management and the team council on Monday, for which Alaba will even travel from Madrid. The subject of the meeting is likely to be Neuhold's planned transfer fee, which has been criticized by Rangnick and his players. There was no confirmation of this meeting from the ÖFB.

The 24-man squad of the Austrian national team for the Nations League matches: 

Goal: Niklas Hedl (SK Rapid/1 international), Patrick Pentz (Bröndby IF/13), Alexander Schlager (FC Red Bull Salzburg/16)

Defense: Kevin Danso (RC Lens/23/0 goals), Philipp Lienhart (SC Freiburg/27/3), Phillipp Mwene (FSV Mainz/18/0), Stefan Posch (Bologna FC/40/2), Alexander Prass (TSG 1899 Hoffenheim/12/0), Michael Svoboda (Venezia FC/2/0), Gernot Trauner (Feyenoord Rotterdam/15/2), Maximilian Wöber (Leeds United/29/0)

Midfield: Christoph Baumgartner (RB Leipzig/46/17), Florian Grillitsch (TSG 1899 Hoffenheim/49/1), Konrad Laimer (FC Bayern Munich/44/5), Marcel Sabitzer (Borussia Dortmund/86/20), Romano Schmid (SV Werder Bremen/19/1), Matthias Seidl (SK Rapid/7/1), Nicolas Seiwald (RB Leipzig/32/0), Kevin Stöger (Borussia Mönchengladbach/2/0), Patrick Wimmer (VfL Wolfsburg/19/1)

Attack: Junior Adamu (SC Freiburg/8/0), Marko Arnautovic (Inter Milan/120/39), Michael Gregoritsch (SC Freiburg/60/17), Andreas Weimann (Blackburn Rovers/25/2)

On call: Nicolas Kristof (SV Elversberg/0), Dejan Stojanovic (SCR Altach/0) - Samson Baidoo (FC Red Bull Salzburg/1/0), Flavius Daniliuc (Hellas Verona/3/0), Marco Friedl (SV Werder Bremen/5/0), Leopold Querfeld (Union Berlin/4/0), Thierno Ballo (WAC/0), Marco Grüll (SV Werder Bremen/5/0), Dejan Ljubicic (1. FC Köln/9/1), Florian Kainz (1. FC Köln/28/1), Maximilian Entrup (LASK/3/1), Raul Florucz (Olimpija Ljubljana/0), Arnel Jakupovic (NK Osijek/0)