European Championship dreams burst: Who will ÖFB team boss Ralf Rangnick drop?

Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen officially bid farewell to Austria’s national football team players as they head to the European Championships in Germany – on Friday, team manager Ralf Rangnick will have to say goodbye to some players: by midnight he will have to reduce the current squad from 29 to a maximum of 26 players.

Gernot Trauner passed his fitness test: He was fully involved in training in Vienna and should have dispelled any remaining doubts. The former LASK captain was out for a long time in the spring due to a muscle injury, and he was still absent on Tuesday against Serbia (2:1) due to injury. For the European Championship dress rehearsal on Saturday in St. Gallen against Switzerland, Rangnick has put Feyenoord’s central defender in the starting eleven – it is not entirely certain whether Philipp Lienhart will play alongside him as planned: the 27-year-old, who has not been in the starting eleven since December at Freiburg following a groin operation and a knee injury, suffered a cut above his right eye in training, which required three stitches.

Heinz Lindner will be in goal against Switzerland – which means that either LASK goalkeeper Tobias Lawal or Rapid’s Niklas Hedl will have their dream of a European Championship shattered today. Among the field players, Flavius ​​Daniliuc and Thierno Ballo are likely to be on the chopping block.

David Alaba’s promise

Everyone was still there for the meeting with the head of state. “We are standing on the pitch at Heldenplatz, and that suits our footballers,” said Van der Bellen, and offered a hope: “At many European Championships there is a team that not only fulfills the hopes and dreams of the fans, but goes beyond them. It could well be that this time you are that team.”

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