The Austria Squad in UEFA Euro 2020

1. WHAT IS THE AUSTRIA SQUAD IN UEFA EURO 2020?

The Austria national football team or Austria squad represents Austria in the men's international football competition. It is controlled by the Austrian Football Association (Österreichischer Fußballbund in Germany). Austria played in the UEFA European Championship for the first time in 2008, when it co-hosted the event with Switzerland, and most recently qualified in the 2020 edition. 

After a year canceled by the Covid-19 pandemic all over the world, the Euro 2020 final tournament was officially back on 11th June 2021. The Austria team was arranged to compete in Group C with the teams from Netherlands, North Macedonia, and Ukraine. 

Austria Euro 2020 Squad

2. WHO IS THE COACH OF THE AUSTRIAN NATIONAL TEAM?

Franco Foda was born on 23rd April 1966 in Mainz, West Germany. He is a German football manager and former player. Currently, he is the manager of the Austrian national football team.

When he was a professional player, he appeared in over 400 top-flight matches in West Germany, Switzerland, and Austria. With a height of 5ft 11in, he was one of the most impressive defenders at that time. He won two DFB- Pokal titles with FC Kaiserslautern (1989-90) and Bayer Leverkusen (1992-93). Together with the Sturm Graz club, Franco Foda had the highest titles in the Austrian top league, Austrian Cup, and Austrian Supercup.

Foda started his coaching career with SK Sturm Graz and helped the club win the Austrian Cup (2009-10) and Austrian Football Bundesliga (2010-11). In 2012, he was announced as the new head coach of 1. FC Kaiserslautern after being sacked by the old club. On 30 September 2019, he returned to lead the Sturm Graz team. 

In October 2017, he became the manager of the Austria national team. In the 2021 European Championship, this manager has been preparing his best plans for the team to gain the most prestigious result. 

Coach Franco Foda

3. AUSTRIA’S FULL 26-MAN EURO 2020 SQUAD

GOALKEEPERS

Daniel Bachmann 

Daniel Bachmann is an Austrian professional football player who plays as a goalkeeper for Championship club Watford. He was born on 9th July 1994 in Wiener Neustadt, Austria. He is now a potential young goalkeeper with his agility and impressive height (6ft 3in).

Bachmann began his football playing career with Stoke City in the summer of 2011. Later, he respectively joined Wrexham, Ross County, Bury on loan deals. He made his professional debut on 8 August 2015 and signed a one-year contract extension with Stroke in July 2016. Since 2017, the young player has played for Watford. In August 2018, he joined Scottish Premiership side Kilmarnock on a season-long loan deal. 

About his international career, he debuted for the Austria U21 team. He was called up to the Austrian first team for the first time on 14 March 2017. In March 2021, he continued being called up for the national team ahead of the 2022 World Cup qualifiers. Being a young and talented goalkeeper, Bachmann is the promising element for the Euros 2021 this year. 

Daniel Bachmann

Pavao Pervan 

Pavao Pervan is another goalkeeper in the plan of Franco Foda this 2021 Euro season. His date of birth is on 13 November 1987 (33 years old). He is 6’4’’ in height and wears the football suit numbered 12 for VfL Wolfsburg. 

Born in  Livno, SR Bosnia and Herzegovina, Pervan grew up from the lower leagues in Austria before playing at the Austrian Bundesliga side LASK. Specifically, he played for Gaswerk/ Strabenhahn (2004-2005), SV Schwechat (2005-07), FC Lustenau 07 (2007-10), FC Pasching (2010), LASK Linz (2010-18). Since 2018, he has signed a contract with VfL Wolfsburg. 

He was first called up for the Austria national football team in November 2017 on the bench. He made his debut on 19 November 2019 in the Euro 2020 qualifier against Latvia.

Pavao Pervan

Alexander Schlager 

Alexander Schlager (born on 1st February 1996 in Salzburg) is an Austrian footballer who plays for LASK as a goalkeeper.

In the past, he joined some clubs to find the developing chance but he often stayed on the substitute bench. Although being a young goalkeeper, he was the captain for Austria U-21 in Euro U-21 2019. In the UEFA Euro 2020 qualification, Schlager played his first match for Austria's national team against North Macedonia in Vienna. 

Alexander Schlager

DEFENDERS

David Alaba 

The 28-year-old defender of Bayern Munich is considered one of the most important names in the list of the best Austrian players taking part in the Euro 2021.  Alaba’s full name is David Olatukunbo Alaba. He was born on 24th June 1992 in Vienna, Austria. 

In his career, he has played in a multitude of roles, including central midfield, right and left-wing, but primarily played as a left-back. Recently, he has been playing as a center-back.

Alaba played most of his matches for Bayern Munich from the 2009-10 season to the 2020-21 season. He with his teammates had 10 titles in the Bundesliga, 6 cups of DFB-POkal, 5 DFL Supercups, 2 UEFA Champions League titles (2012-13; 2019-20), 2 UEFA Super Cup titles, and also 2 honorable times winning the FIFA Club World Cup (2013; 2020). Besides, Alaba has had a lot of awards for his individual career such as 7 times being the Austrian Footballer of the year, 2 times being the Austrian Sports Personality of the year, and so on. In May 2021, the player was announced to play for the Spanish side Real Madrid following a free-transfer contract that lasts 5 years from 1 July 2021.

In 2009, David Alaba was first called up to the senior Austrian national team against France. That debut made him become the youngest player in the history of the Austrian team.

David Alaba

Aleksandar Dragovic 

Born on 6th March 1991 in Vienna, Aleksandar Dragovic is an Austrian professional footballer who plays as a defender for Red Star Belgrade and the Austria national team. Dragovic is well known for his performances as a tough-tackling center-back.

Before becoming a 3-year member of Red Star Belgrade on 26 May 2021, this playful talent played for some other clubs named Austrian Wien (2008/09-2010-11), Basel (2010/11-2013/14), Dynamo Kyiv (2013/14-2016/17), Bayer Leverkusen (2016/17-2020-21), Leicester City (loan deal in 2017/18), and had impressive achievements. 

He made his international debut in the match against Serbia on 6 June 2009. The most recent time he was on the national team was in the Euro 2016.

Aleksandar Dragovic

Marco Friedl

Marco Friedl was born on 16th March 1998 in Kirchbichl, Austria. He is an Austrian professional footballer who plays as a defender for the Werder Bremen club. 

Friedl began his senior career with Bayern Munich II in the 2015-16 season. His first goal for Bayern Munich II was in the Regionalliga Bayern on 27 October 2017. On 14 March 2017, he became the professional player of Bayern. He was a starter in the UEFA Champions League on 22 November 2017 in a 2-1 away win against Anderlecht. He opened the scoring in a 1-1 home draw against FV Illertissen. Two years later in January 2018, he signed with Werder Bremen on an 18-month loan contract from Bayer Much without a buying option. In May 2019, Friedl decided to sign a permanent contract with Werder Bremen and spent his all remaining career in this club. 

Marco Friedl is a very young player and he is considered a surprising element in the 2020 Euro arena. 

Marco Friedl

Martin Hinteregger

Hinteregger was born on 7th September 1992 in Sankt Veit an der Glan, Austria. He is 6ft in height and is at the most beautiful age to join Euro 2021. Hinteregger is a talented professional footballer playing as a center-back for Bundesliga club  Eintracht Frankfurt and the Austrian national team. 

He had two years playing for the Red Bull Salzburg Juniors, 7 years in the senior Red Bull Salzburg club, 3 years in FC Augsburg. From the 2018-19 season, he signed for Frankfurt. He played the most successfully in Red Bull Salzburg with 4 Austrian Bundesliga titles and 4 Austrian Cup titles as well. 

Martin Hinteregger

Stefan Lainer 

Stefan Lainer was born in 1992 in Seekirchen am Wallersee, Salzburg, Austria. Although his height is just 5ft 9in, he is still one of the best right-backs. He plays for  Borussia Mönchengladbach and the Austra national team. 

Lainer started his career with the local club SV Seekirchen, and then came to Red Bull Salzburg in 2006. He also played for  SV Grödig on loan and returned to Salzburg in the second team- FC LIefering. On 1 July 2015, the defender transferred to FC Red Bull Salzburg. During the 2017-18 season,  Salzburg had their best ever European campaign when they finished top of their Europa League groups four times, thus making the first-ever appearance in the Europa League semi-final. Together with the national team, Lainer won North Macedonia 2-1 overall and head to the 2020 Euro final games.

Stefan Lainer

Philipp Lienhart 

Philipp Lienhart was born in July 1996 in Lilienfeld, Austria. He 6’1’’ tall and is the center-back of SC Freiburg. He started his senior career for the Rapid Wien II team in 2012. After three seasons there, he played for Real Madrid teams from the 2014-15season to the 2016-17 season. SC Freiburg is his current home team until the end of his career. 

Lienhart represented Austria at U-18, U-19, U-20, and U-21 levels. Lienhart had his first call up to the senior Austria team after Sebastian Prödl withdrew through injury for 2018 World Cup qualifiers against Wales and Georgia in September 2017.

Philipp Lienhart

Stefan Posch

Stefan Posch was born on 14th May 1997 in Judenburg, Austria. He is 6’2’’ and is the 38 of the 1899 Hoffenheim club. He is a young and talented professional defender. 

Posch made his Austria team debut on 10 June 2019 in a Euro 2021 qualifier against North Macedonia, as a half-time substitute for Aleksandar Dragović. 

Stefan Posch

Christopher Trimmel 

At the age of 34, Christopher Trimmel is still one of the names listed to play for the Euro 2020 season. Trimmel was born on 24th February 1987 in Oberpullendoft, Austria. Having an impressive height of 6ft 2in and flexible legs, he can play as a right-winger and a forward. Currently, he is the professional defender of Union Berlin. 

Trimmel signed with Rapid Wien in 2008 and initially played for the amateurs. However, he quickly got a place in the first-team squad. He had 6 years playing in the Austrian Bundesliga. In February 2014, Trimmel signed with Union Berlin for the new season. In May 2017, he extended his contract until 2019. 

Christopher Trimmel

Andreas Ulmer 

Andreas Ulmer was born on 30th October 1985 in Linz, Austria. He is an Austrian professional defender who captains Red Bull Salzburg and plays for the Austrian national team. 

In his whole career, he played for Austrian Wien teams from 2004 to 2008 and had an Austrian Bundesliga title with Austria Wien in the 2005-06 season. He played for SV Ried in a season (2008-09) and then spent all his remaining career with Red Bull Salzburg. Here, he has had 11 Austrian Bundesliga titles and 8 Austrian Cup titles until the 2020-21 season. 

Andreas Ulmer

MIDFIELDERS

Julian Baumgartlinger 

Julian Jakob Baumgartlinger is the first name in the midfielders’ list of Franco Foda. He was born on 2nd January 1988 in Salzburg, Austria. Currently, he plays for Bayer Leverkusen and serves as the captain of the Austria national team. 

Baumgartlinger started playing football at local USC Mattsee at age five. In 2001, he left Austria to join the youth academy of 1860 Munich. After 3 years, he was called to their first team and played in the 2.Bundesliga for 2 seasons (2007-08; 2008-09). He returned to play for Austrian Wien in the next two seasons. From 2011 to 2016, the midfielder became a member of the Mainz 05 team in German. From the 2016-17 season until now, Baumgartlinger has been the redoubtable midfielder in Bayer Leverkusen. In his career until the 2020-21 season, he has had 417 appearances in all competitions and got 14 goals even when he was not an attacker.

Baumgartlinger has joined the Austrian team since the 2009 season. He played in 83 matches and was one of the core players making great wins for the Austrian team. Julian Baumgartlinger also played in the national team at the 2016 UEFA Euro. In this upcoming season, he continues keeping the captain band and promises to take everyone by surprise. 

Julian Baumgartlinger

Christoph Baumgartner 

Christoph Baumgartner was born in Horn, Austria on 1st August 1999. He is a professional footballer who plays midfielder for Bundesliga club 1899 Hoffenheim and the Austria national football team. 

Baumgartner played for the various Austrian youth national teams, from the under-15 to under-19 selections. He made his U21 debut on 10th November 2017. 

Christoph Baumgartner

Florian Grillitsch

Florian Grillitsch is an Austrian professional footballer playing for 1899 Hoffenheim and the Austrian national team as a midfielder or center-back. He was born on 7th August 1995 in Neunkirchen, Austria. 

In the first years of his career, he played for Werder Bremen II ( 2013-2016) and for Werder Bremen (2015/16-2016/17). From the 2017-18 season, he signed a contract with Hoffenheim until 2021. 

Florian Grillitsch

Stefan Ilsanker 

Ilsanker was born on 18th May 1989 in Hallein, Salzburg, Austria. He plays as a defensive midfielder for German club Eintracht Frankfurt and the Austria national team. 

He started his career in the youth squad of 1.Halleiner SK as a goalkeeper because he owns his height up to 6’3’’ but soon switched into the midfielder. In 2005, he officially signed with Red Bull Salzburg to play in the Red Bull Salzburg Juniors team. He played for the first team in the 2009-10 season. At the end of that season, he played for SV Mattersburg for 2 years. From the 2012-13 season to the 2014-15 season, Ilsanker was back to become a member of Red Bull Salzburg. In the five following seasons, the midfielder played for RB Leipzig. On 31st January 2020, Ilsanker signed a deal with Frankfurt until 2022.

Ilsanker has won over 40 caps for Austria since his debut in 2014. He represented his country at Euro 2016, where Austria finished last in Group F. Ilsanker played in two matches for Austria at the competition. The team drew 0 - 0 with eventual champions Portugal and lost 1–2 to Iceland. This year, Stefan Ilsanker continues being called up to the national team to play in the 2020 European Championship. 

Stefan Ilsanker 

Konrad Laimer

Born on 27th May 1997, Konrad Laimer is currently a midfielder of the German side RB Leipzig and also is a player in the Austrian football team. 

Laimer began his young career with FC Liefering where he played Erste Liga games from the 2013-14 season to the 2015-16 season. He played for Red Bull Salzburg in the next three seasons in the Austrian Bundesliga football arena. On 30th June 2017, Lainer signed a four-year contract with RB Leipzig. He will play for the Chelsea B team in the next 2 seasons.

Lainer made his debut on 7 June 2019 in Euro 2020 qualifier against Slovenia, as a starter. 

Konrad Laimer

Valentino Lazaro

Valentino Lando Lazaro was born in Graz, Styria, Austria on 24th March 1996. He is 5ft 11in tall and is the right midfielder for Internationale. 

His first debut was for Red Bull Salzburg on 3rd November 2012 against Admira Wacker in the Austrian Football Bundesliga. At 16 years and 224 days, he became the youngest player ever in the history of the league. He had played for the Red Bull Salzburg team for 6 seasons and gained 5 titles each in the Austrian Bundesliga and the Austrian Cup before being transferred to FC Liefering on a loan deal. Lazaro then played for Hertha BSC teams from 2017 to 2019. 

On 1 July 2019, Lazaro joined Inter Milan and made his debut in Serie A. The team defeated Sassuolo 4-3 on 20th October 2019. He played for Newcastle United and Borussia Mönchengladbach in the following season according to loan deals. In November 2020, he was awarded the Bundesliga Goal of the month. 

With these achievements, this young talented midfielder is worth having a spot playing in the Euro 2021.

Valentino Lazaro

Marcel Sabitzer

Marcel Sabitzer is 5ft 10in tall. He was born on 17th March 1994 in Wels, Upper Austria, Austria. Currently, he plays as a midfielder for RB Leipzig in the Bundesliga and the Austra national team. 

Sabitzer played for Admira Wacker Mödling in the three first years of his career (2010/11-2012/13). In the two following seasons, he was the midfielder of Rapid Wien. On 30th May 2014, he signed a four-year contract with RB Leipzig and was loaned for a season to FC Red Bull Salzburg (2014-15). As of the 20210-21 season, Sabitzer has had 387 appearances and 102 goals. Apart from being a great midfielder, Sabitzer has established himself as one of the finest all-round attackers in the Bundesliga so that he is an indispensable factor in the plan of Franco Foda for this Euro season. 

Marcel Sabitzer

Louis Schaub 

Schaub was born on 29th December 1994. He is a German-born Austrian footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for FC Luzern on loan from 1.FC Köln. in the Swiss Super League. He was chosen by influential football website IBWM in their list of the 100 most exciting players in the football world in 2014. 

Schaub had the first match for Rapid Wien’s senior team in the 3-0 win over Sturm Graz in the Austrian Bundesliga on 18th August 2012. He has played for 1.FC Köln. since 2018 and was loaned to Swiss side FC Luzern for the 2020-21 season. 

This midfielder has been called up for four different age groups in Austria.  He had his first match for Austria U21 in a 2015 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship qualification Group win over Albania U21 on 14 August 2013, coming on as a 76th-minute substitute. He was also named in the Austria squad for a 2018 World Cup qualifier against Wales in September 2016. 

Louis Schaub 

Xaver Schlager 

Xaver Schlager was born on 28th September 1997 in Linz, Upper Austria. Despite having a humble height (5’9’’), he is still an excellent midfielder of Austria. He has currently played for VfL Wolfsburg. 

After playing for the youth team of SC St. Valentin, he joined the FC Red Bull Salzburg Academy in 2011. From the 2014-15 season to 2017-18 season, he played for FC Liefering in the Austrian Football First League. He spent the next four years in Red Bull Salzburg FC. He played for VfL Wolfsburg II in the 2019-20 Regionalliga Nord and then signed for VfL Wolfsburg from 26th June 2019 until now.

In his international career, he played for the Austrian U16, U17, and U19 national teams. Schlager first played for the senior Austria national football team in a friendly 3-0 win over the Slovenia team on 23 March 2018.

Xaver Schlager

Alessandro Schöpf

Alessandro André Schöpf was born on 7th February 1994 in Umhausen, Tyrol, Austria. He plays as a midfielder for Bundesliga club Schalke 04 and the Austria national team.

Schöpf joined Bayern Munich in 2009 and spent three years in the junior team before being promoted to the reserve team (Bayern Munich II) in 2012. After two seasons playing in the Regionalliga Bayern, he signed for 1. FC Nürnberg and played in 2.Bundesliga in two years. Since the 2015-16 season, Schopf has spent almost all his career for the Schalke 04 team. He was praised by the Schalke manager Tedesco as follows “He is almost a complete player. He is very diligent and runs many, many kilometers in each game. He is versatile and always wants to play, no matter which position it is. In addition, he is technically savvy, brave, and a great person. We're delighted to be able to continue working with him”.

Alessandro Schöpf played at U16, U18, U19 and U21 level in Austria. On 27th March 2016, he made his senior debut for his home country, coming on as an 87th-minute substitute in a friendly against Albania. He was selected for UEFA Euro 2016 and now for UEFA Euro 2020.

Alessandro Schöpf

FORWARDS

Marko Arnautovic 

Marko Arnautovic was born on 19th April 1989 in Floridsdorf, Vienna, Austria. He has impressive height (6’4’’), strong health, and an agile mind that make him become one of the best Austrian forwards. At the present, he plays as a forward or winger for the Chinese Super League club Shanghai Port and the Austrian national team.

Before coming to the Shanghai team, Marko Arnautovic played for many other clubs: Twente (2006-2009), Inter Milan (2009-10 loan deal), Werder Bremen (2010-2014), Stoke City (2013/14- 2016/17), and West ham United (2017/18-2018/19). Together with the Inter Milan teammates, he won a Serie A (2009-10), a Coppa Italia (2009-10), a Champions League (2009-10). In addition, he got his own individual awards of West Ham United Hammer of the Year (2017–18) and Austrian Footballer of the Year (2018). On 7 July 2019,  Arnautović signed for Shanghai Port FC for a fee of  £22.4 million. He scored on his first match here in a 2-2 draw game at Chongqing Dangdai Lifan in the Chinese Super League.

Arnautović played in the Under-19  team and Under-21 team in Austria. The former Austrian manager Andreas Herzog described him as the best Austrian footballer of 30 years. He made his debut for the Austrian national senior team on 11 October 2008 and scored the first goal for Austria in a 3-0 win over Azerbaijan on 8 October 2010. Arnautović started in all ten of Austria's games during their successful UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying campaign, scoring in a win over Montenegro and both fixtures against their neighbors Liechtenstein. 

Obviously, Marko Arnautovic is the leading name in the attacking line of the Austria squad in the Euro 2021 campaign of manager Faco.

Marko Arnautovic

Michael Gregoritsch 

Michael Gregoritsch is like a duplicate of Marko Arnautovic. He is also 6’4” in height. His date of birth is on 18th April 1994 which is almost the same as the birthday of the 32-year-old forward. The most impressive thing is that he is also a great Austrian winger or striker. He has currently played for Bundesliga side FC Augsburg. 

The first destination of his football career was at  Kapfenberger SV's youth teams. He then was promoted to the first team from the 2009-10 season to the 2011-12 season. From the 2009-10 season, he respectively played for 1899 Hoffenheim II (2012-13), FC St. Pauli II (2013-14, loan deal), FC St. Pauli (2013-14, loan deal), VfL Bochum (2014-15, loan deal), and Hamberger SV (2015/16- 2016/17). He has played for FC Augsburg since the 2017-18 season and had a loan deal in the 2019-20 season with the Schalke 04 team. 

Michael Gregoritsch

Sasa Kalajdzic

At the age of 24, Sasa Kalajdzic is a potential and wonderful Austrian forward. He was born on 7th July 1997 in Vienna and owned an incredible height (6’7’’). Currently, he has played as a forward for VfB Stuttgart and the Austria national team. 

Kalajdžić began his career as a professional footballer in Austria for FC Admira Wacker Mödling. He originally played as a midfielder, and then became a forward later. He played for the Admira Wacker Amateure for 3 years ( 2016/17-2018/19) and played for Admira Wacker for 2 years (2017/18-2018/19). On 5th July 2019, he signed a four-year contract with the German club VfB Stuttgart. He made his debut in Austria on 14th October 2020. 

Sasa Kalajdzic

Karim Onisiwo

Karim Onisiwo was born on 17th March 1992 in Vienna, Austria. He is an Austrian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Mainz O5 club and the Austrian national football team.

Before becoming a member of Mainz 05, he played for SC Ostbahn XI (2010-11), TSV Neumarkt (2011-12), SV Austria Salzburg (2012-14), and SV Mattwesburg (2014-16). He made his first match in his international career for the senior Austria squad as a substitute, in a friendly against Switzerland in November 2015. 

Karim Onisiwo

Here above is the most basic information about the Austrian team in the UEFA Euro 2021. Betimate hopes to show you a clear and objective view about this potential team in the old continent’s biggest football competition. 

REFERENCE SOURCES

• Wikipedia
• https://www.uefa.com/uefaeuro-2020/teams/8--austria/squad/