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It is not an easy situation for Foda
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The trials and tribulations surrounding the crown events at Red Bull Salzburg kept Austrian soccer team boss Franco Foda busy ahead of Wednesday’s test match (8.30pm) in Luxembourg. The German was constantly faced with new developments in the team situation. It is now clear that “Bulls” professionals Andreas Ulmer and Cican Stankovic are available for the Nations League matches against Northern Ireland and Norway.
The two are not a problem for Luxembourg because they missed the mandatory UEFA tests, which were held on Tuesday. His club colleague Albert Vallci, who was also originally nominated, was included on the list. The defender was only destined for the duel with the Grand Duchy team.
It is also fixed that Alessandro Schöpf is out with a calf injury. Furthermore, Maximilian Ullmann does not travel to Luxembourg. As a precaution, Rapid’s left-back remains in Vienna after Rapid had a positive group test, but could still join the ÖFB selection for Nations League games. Philipp Wiesinger and Jörg Siebenhandl, who were nominated on Tuesday, take their seats on the plane to Luxembourg.
Due to the effects of the coronavirus pandemic, Foda recently had to deal more with personnel issues than tactics. “The last two days were very turbulent. On Sunday I traveled to Vienna relaxed, everything was fine. But then the situation developed in a different direction,” said the 54-year-old.
Meanwhile, the situation has calmed down a bit, said Foda. “Now we can go back to concentrating on the sport.” The team boss informed his protégés on Tuesday morning through a video study about the opponent, that, like the ÖFB team, he will not compete with the best cast: in Luxembourg, the next Nations League matches are also the focus, in which the team of 610,000 The resident state is about to win the group.
Foda has not yet questioned the importance of the game at Stade Josy Barthel. “There are no meaningless games. This is a friendly match, you can still try something,” emphasized the national coach. “This is an important game for the Nations League, we want to present ourselves well.”
The duel with number 95 in the FIFA world rankings – Austria ranked 25th – offers many in the second row a chance to recommend themselves for qualification for next year’s World Cup and Euro Cup. “One or the other can prove themselves now,” Foda said.
The team boss is expected to travel to Luxembourg with 21 players on Wednesday. David Alaba, Marcel Sabitzer, Xaver Schlager, Christoph Baumgartner and Stefan Lainer are safe and, like Ulmer and Stankovic, ready for action in the Nations League. Due to the absence of Alaba, Ulmer, Ullmann and Marco Friedl (Werder pro is unavailable due to travel restrictions), Foda currently does not have a left defender on the team.
Foda did not want to reveal how this problem will be solved and what the initial formation of the ÖFB in Luxembourg will look like. “You just have to improvise a lot and be flexible. When setting up you have to wait to see what unfolds throughout the day. We move at times when something can change every hour,” said the former Sturm Graz coach.
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