Emanuel Pogatetz to captain Austria

Returning home from English Premier League side Middlesbrough Emanuel Pogatetz has been passed the arm-band by new manager Didi Constantini. The always feisty twenty-six year-old defender said to the ÖFB of the great honour:

“He asked me whether I wanted to be captain and whether I would be disappointed if he didn’t name me. And I told him that I would indeed like to do it and that I actually would be disappointed.”

A Graz native debuted at FC Kärnten before moving on the Bayer 04 Leverkusen and eventually captaining Gareth Southgate’s Middlesbrough. Recipient of thirty-three caps for Austrian the hard-nosed defender is a pillar of strength whose heart can never be questioned.

Ahead of next weeks critical match against Romania die rot-weiß-rote have met in Velden am Wörthersee for training. Didi Constantini has named the following squad with a number of surprising absences, including ndreas Ivanschitz, Alexander Manninger and György Garics while providing debuts for Aleksandar Dragović and Yasin Pehlivan:

Goalkeepers: Michael Gspurning (Xanthi), Juergen Macho (AEK Athens), Andreas Schranz (Austria Kaernten)

Defenders: Aleksandar Dragović (Austria Vienna), Andreas Ibertsberger (Hoffenheim), Manuel Ortlechner (Austria Kärnten), Emanuel Pogatetz (Middlesbrough), Sebastian Prödl (Werder Bremen), Franz Schiemer (Austria Vienna), Andreas Ulmer (Red Bull Salzburg)

Midfielders: Daniel Beichler (Sturm Graz), Christian Fuchs (Bochum), Andreas Hoelzl (Sturm Graz), Zlatko Junuzović (Austria Kärnten), Ümit Korkmaz (Eintracht Frankfurt), Christoph Leitgeb (Red Bull Salzburg), Yasin Pehlivan (Rapid Vienna), Jürgen Säumel (FC Torino), Paul Scharner (Wigan), Manuel Weber (Austria Kärnten)

Forwards: Marko Arnautović (Twente), Erwin Hoffer (Rapid Vienna), Marc Janko (Red Bull Salzburg), Stefan Maierhofer (Rapid Vienna)

Photo Source: (c) GEPA-Pictures