Sport

Austria’s family charge up the rankings

Date: Sep 10, 2015

Austria head coach Marcel Koller was in good spirits as he took to the podium at the Austrian Football Association’s press conference in Vienna on Wednesday 9 September 2015, wearing a beret and clutching a baguette in one hand.

The laid-back Swiss coach had a very good reason for this unusual sartorial selection after Austria booked their ticket to UEFA EURO 2016 in France the previous evening.

“For a long time now I’ve been emphasising that we haven’t got there yet, but now it’s official: France here we come!” Koller gleefully declared. “This performance has brought joy not just to me but to the whole of Austria, and working with the team is unbelievably good fun. The players have become friends and worked hard for this success.”

The team have also made history by qualifying for Europe’s biggest international tournament via their group for the very first time [Editor’s note: they qualified automatically as co-hosts in 2008]. The triumph also serves as a crowning achievement for the current upturn in Austria’s footballing fortunes, with their 13th spot in the September edition of the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking marking the country’s highest placing since the table was first introduced.

The neighbours of the current world champions were 70th in the world as recently as four years ago, having previously recorded an all-time low ranking of 92nd in 2008. Former coach Didi Constantini resigned after a series of disappointing results in the run-up to the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil™, prompting Koller to take the helm in November 2011. The team have steadily improved ever since and almost got within reach of a place at last summer's World Cup, a narrow loss to Sweden meaning they finished third in a challenging group that also included eventual winners Germany.

Experience from across Europe

With the majority of Austria’s players plying their trade in many of Europe’s top leagues, there is no doubting the potential within Koller’s team. Central defender Aleksandar Dragovic, for example, currently plays for Dynamo Kiev and has been linked repeatedly with some of the English Premier League’s biggest clubs. Were he to make such a move, he would soon encounter international team-mates Kevin Wimmer at Tottenham Hotspur, Austria captain Christian Fuchs at Leicester City or Marko Arnautovic at Stoke City. As if that was not enough, several of Koller’s squad feature regularly in the neighbouring German Bundesliga, most notably versatile Bayern Munich superstar David Alaba.

Born in Vienna with Filipino and Nigerian roots, the 2013 UEFA Champions League winner is a key component in the national team’s playing style, pulling the strings and shouldering responsibility in central midfield. This was no more evident than in Austria’s decisive EURO 2016 qualifier against Sweden’s Tre Kronor, as the 23-year-old put his team ahead from the penalty spot at the Friends Arena in Solna just nine minutes after kick-off.

Koller has managed the difficult task of moulding these strong individual personalities into a team. “The players have become friends and are always delighted to come together and play,” the coach explained, while attacker Arnautovic added: “You can see that we’re not only a team but a family, and families understand each other better than teams do.”

 

After beginning their France 2016 qualifying campaign with a 1-1 draw against Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Co at the Ernst Happel Stadion in Vienna, Team Austria recorded seven successive wins. Although they showed plenty of attacking intent along the way with their impressive combination play, Koller’s team never lost sight of their defensive responsibilities.

“Our style of play means that we have only conceded three goals,” the coach said. “That’s to the credit of the entire team, because each and every one of them digs deep in defence.” Another key figure in this impressive defensive record is 31-year-old goalkeeper Robert Almer, who went 603 consecutive minutes without conceding thanks to a series of impressive saves.

Room for even more improvement

Austria were rewarded for these strong performances with a world ranking of 23 at the end of 2014. With eight of their ten qualifiers now complete, skipper Christian Fuchs and his team-mates have remained immovable at the top of Group G to secure their place in next summer’s finals. Their achievement is made all the more special by signalling a return to France, the setting for Austria’s last foray onto the international stage at the 1998 FIFA World Cup.

Although they were unable to make it out of the group stage that year, the situation is expected to be very different this time around, despite Koller remaining cautious about his side’s chances. “The euphoria has already got a little out of control,” he warned. “Let us get to France first; everything else is a bit overenthusiastic.”

Nevertheless, the 54-year-old does not believe his team have yet reached the peak of their powers, saying: “We still don’t know where this will end. A couple of months ago I said that it’s important to repeat this kind of performance. The next job is to introduce some consistency and ensure we can regularly compete at a high level.”

There is no doubt that qualifying for the 2018 World Cup in Russia is part of this plan. “We’re not placing any limits on ourselves,” Koller continued. “Competition is extremely tight at the level at which we’re now playing. Our task now is to consistently improve our performances while at the same time developing young players.”

In the meantime, Koller can have plenty of confidence in his current squad. And perhaps by 2017, he will be able to give a press conference with a matryoshka doll in his hand.
--fifa--

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