Worries about Danso

Rangnick has to do without two defenders

Team manager Ralf Rangnick(Bild: GEPA, krone.at-mrgrafik)

Austria's national team will be without Kevin Danso and Philipp Lienhart for the Nations League games against Slovenia in Ljubljana on Friday and against Norway in Oslo the following Monday (both at 20:45). 

In place of the center-back duo, team boss Ralf Rangnick named Flavius Daniliuc on Monday.

Danso will undergo extensive examinations at his club RC Lens following his failed transfer to AS Roma, after the Italians claimed that the defender was suffering from health problems. Lienhart is expecting the birth of his first child and will therefore not take part in the training course.

This leaves Rangnick with a problem in central defense for the upcoming games, which include a match against Norway's star striker Erling Haaland. In addition to Danso and Lienhart, the injured David Alaba and Gernot Trauner are also missing. Although Maximilian Wöber is in the squad, he has only recently recovered from an injury and has not yet had any match practice.

The national team coach decided not to nominate central defender and Werder Bremen captain Marco Friedl. The fact that he does not play a role in Rangnick's plans already caused displeasure for the Tyrolean on Saturday. "They don't communicate with me, they don't talk to me. That's why I've actually already ticked off the subject. I'm very angry," said Friedl in connection with the ÖFB team.

No training
Rangnick canceled the training session planned for Monday evening in Klagenfurt at short notice. Instead, the ÖFB team completed a regeneration session at their hotel in Pörtschach. The first training session at the Wörthersee Stadium will therefore take place on Tuesday, with the team leaving for Ljubljana on Thursday.