European Championship preparation

Father’s joy! Schmid departs from ÖFB team camp

Romano Schmid traveled to his family in Graz.(Bild: APA/GEORG HOCHMUTH)

The Sunday training session of the Austrian national soccer team in Windischgarsten took place without Romano Schmid and Gernot Trauner. Schmid traveled to Graz to be with his wife, who gave birth to their second child in the afternoon. 

The Werder Bremen professional is expected to return to the team on Monday. According to the Austrian Football Association, Trauner was absent again on Saturday for reasons of stress management. 

Romano Schmid(Bild: APA/GEORG HOCHMUTH)

"It was perfect timing, we couldn't have planned it better," said team boss Ralf Rangnick when he confirmed the birth of Schmid's son Emilio on the ORF program "Sport am Sonntag". The attacking player will therefore be able to take part in the European Championship test against Serbia in Vienna on Tuesday (20:45/live ORF 1). According to Rangnick, Marcel Sabitzer and David Alaba, who were both in demand for the Champions League final in London on Saturday, will also join the team on that day.

Final training session in Vienna
The final training session for the test match against Serbia on Tuesday will take place on Monday afternoon at the Happel Stadium. The last training session before the match was actually planned to take place in Windischgarsten, but due to the poor condition of the pitches in the camp caused by the weather, the team traveled to Vienna earlier.