Next Friday, the national team will face the Republic of Moldova in qualifying for the World Cup. Then you will meet Israel on Monday (also in Klagenfurt). After the 2: 5 away defeat, Israel still has an open account. The World Cup qualification was still over. The ÖFB team is only fourth and seven points behind the table runners-up Scotland. Therefore, the team boss debate starts again before the next course. What about the future of Franco Foda. Will the German still sit on the bench after the two qualifiers? According to sports director Peter Schöttel, a lot depends on the duels against the Republic of Moldova and Israel.
Schöttel also knows that they have disappointed in qualifying for the World Cup so far. But he doesn’t want to give his overall assessment until after the games: “You have to look at the entire qualification to see why something didn’t work out that way. A fifth of this qualification is still taking place. ” After completing the qualification, Schöttel first wants to exchange ideas with the team boss, then the management and the executive committee submit his report. “You can let in what the last course was like. You can see how many points you have made. You can see that you definitely haven’t reached your goal, we already know that. But then you will most certainly exchange ideas about the reasons. “
At least the personnel situation has improved somewhat. Despite the no longer given chance of second place, the cancellations were limited. “We didn’t expect that many players would cancel. If the players are not injured, they do not cancel, ”emphasized Schöttel. The long-term injuries Stefan Lainer, Xaver Schlager, Julian Baumgartlinger, Valentino Lazaro and Sasa Kalajdzic were only joined by midfielder Konrad Laimer and substitute goalkeeper Alexander Schlager. This time Aleksandar Dragovic, Christoph Baumgartner or Marko Arnautovic are available again this time.
It will also be the first games in Gerhard Milletich’s tenure. According to Schöttel, the Burgenland will pay a visit to the team camp in the next few days. Team doctor Michael Fiedler can also be found in the hotel. The doctor’s open vaccination status had recently caused a stir. In the case of doubt, despite the new 2G regulation in the hotel industry, official obligations can also be met without vaccination. “We are moving here within the framework of the new regulation. Everyone who is here is allowed to be here, ”explained Schöttel. The ÖFB would adhere to its prevention concepts very closely. The sports director asked not to publicly “pillory” anyone. Especially since a man is affected who “is largely responsible for the fact that we have not yet had a problem with it”.
