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Christoph Baumgartner and Adrian Grbic can rightly hope to make their Austrian national soccer debut in Norway on Friday (8.45pm / ORF 1 live). Offensive players are for the first time in the squad of the team boss, Franco Foda. Baumgartner made his breakthrough in preseason at Hoffenheim in 1899, Grbic soared in French Ligue 1 to Lorient.
They both want to make a lasting mark on the ÖFB team. Baumgartner was already a key player in the Under-21s, he knows many teammates from the German Bundesliga. “It’s an advantage. You know what my strengths are,” said the 21-year-old. Namely, creativity. “I’m an offensive player who likes to try something and maybe do something risky.” He wants to keep that as a newcomer to the national team.
Baumgartner’s game thrives on his self-confidence. The attacking midfielder scored seven league goals for Hoffenheim, including two victories against Dortmund. “Those are moments when you, as a young player, realize that you can keep up with the greats,” the Lower Austrian said at an ÖFB press meeting in Klagenfurt on Wednesday. “That was extremely important to my head.”
The setbacks of the previous summer – an exclusion in the fight for the European Cup places and a missed penalty in the European Under-21 Championship – “Baumi” were cut well. He even took positive things with him. “I learned that football doesn’t always go up.” The younger brother of WAC defender Dominik Baumgartner moved from St. Pölten Academy to Hoffenheim in 2017, where he is now seen as more than hope for the future.
A job in the ÖFB team would be the next step. “I have tried to put my strength in the meadow in recent days,” said Waldviertel. One of them could be its versatility. Basically the roll of ten in the center is his “favorite position.” Baumgartner has also played as a winger for Hoffenheim and the U21 squad, a position that the ÖFB team urgently needs after numerous failures.
Years ago, Grbic had also occasionally performed on the side of the offspring at VfB Stuttgart, but his true qualities lie at the center of the storm. The 24-year-old said his best weapon was his title. “I dare say I know where the goal is.” He scored 17 goals in 26 league games for French second division club Clermont Foot in the season shortened due to Corona. As a reward, there was a transfer of 10 million euros to the House of Lords.
Grbic doesn’t want to be pressured by the high transfer rate. After two years in Altach (2017-2019), the assignments are more important for the Viennese. “Without match practice, no great club is of use to you.” The move to France has paid off. “French football is focused on two fights, but also technically, that’s good for me,” said the 1.88-meter man. With serial champions Paris Saint-Germain and Olympique de Lyon, France placed two teams in the semi-finals of the Champions League. “The French league is a superior league to develop,” Grbic said.
He wants to get used to the national team as quickly as possible. “I’m trying to show that I am an option from the beginning.” With Marko Arnautovic unavailable due to quarantine regulations in China against Norway and three days later in Klagenfurt against Romania, opportunities arise. Michael Gregoritsch seems like the first alternative in the middle of the storm. Grbic doesn’t see himself as a pure enforcer. “I like having the ball at my feet and playing with the team.”
Preferably in the ME next year. The one-year postponement due to the crown pandemic could prove a stroke of luck for the new players of the ÖFB team. “If I’m at it now, my goal is to move on,” Baumgartner emphasized. “Anything else would be a lie.” Grbic sees it in a similar way: “It is a great goal to be in the EURO. I will try to improve whenever I can.”
Those: APA
