Roundup: 15 Violets on international duty

In the past few days, 15 Austria Wien players from the first team to the U16s were in action with various national teams in a total of 16 matches. In addition to friendly tournaments and international matches, there were also important games as part of the European Championship qualifiers. An overview.

Austria's U21 national team hosted Norway in Drammen on September 3 and was looking to build on its opening win in the UEFA U21 EURO 2023 qualifiers against Estonia in June. Despite taking the lead, however, Werner Gregoritsch's team ultimately had to concede defeat 1:3, Vesel Demaku only hitting the crossbar shortly before the break at 1-1 and playing until the 78th minute.

Yesterday, Tuesday, the home duel against Azerbaijan was on the agenda, which red-white-red could clearly win 6:0. Demaku was again in the starting eleven in Ried and was in action until the 79th minute.

In Group A of the European Championship qualifiers, Austria seems to be in third place after three games. The next match will be against Estonia and Finland on October 8 and 12, respectively.

Antovski as captain in the European qualifiers

Filip Antovski also played for the U21 national team in the European Championship qualifiers. Northern Macedonia lost 3-0 to France in Le Mans on September 2, with the left-back playing until the 74th minute. In Tuesday's goalless draw with Serbia, Antovski played the full distance as captain.

The German U20 national team played a friendly international against the Czech Republic on September 2, with Eric Martel being substituted by team manager Christian Wörns in the 81st minute. Four days later, Martel was in action for 73 minutes in our neighbors' clash against their peers from Norway.

Conde, Huskovic & Ivkic as tournament winners

The domestic U19 national team took part in the Four Nations Tournament in Zagreb in the past few days. Martin Scherb's team suffered a 3-0 defeat against Turkey at the start of the tournament. After falling behind early on from a penalty kick, the Turks struck twice in the 81st and 82nd minutes for what was ultimately a clear final result. Muharem Huskovic played through, Leonardo Ivkic was in the game from the second half.

In the second clash against Wales, Austria struck back and deservedly won 3-2, this time with Ivkic in action at right-back for 90 minutes and Huskovic coming on as a substitute at the break. The third and final match against host Croatia, in which three Austria Wien players - goalkeeper Sandali Conde, Ivkic and Huskovic - played through, was won 1-0 by the red-white-red youngsters and secured first place in the end.

El Sheiwi with the U18 in the Czech Republic

Things didn't quite go according to plan for team boss Hermann Stadler's U18 national team. At the start of the four-nation tournament in the Czech Republic, Austria lost 1:2 without Ziad El Sheiwi.

The 17-year-old played the full distance against Germany on the left wing and kept the game open with his colleagues for a long time, the score was 1-1 until the 87th minute. Two late goals by the Germans, however, ensured the second defeat in the tournament.

The final game was also a 4-0 defeat against Slovakia, not least due to a number of own mistakes. El Sheiwi was brought as a left-back at the break.

Goalkeeper Jusic captain of U17 team

The U17 national team played two friendly internationals against Denmark these days and was defeated twice narrowly with 0:1. In the first duel in Frederikshaven, goalkeeper Kenan Jusic played as captain as well as Fabian Jankovic as left-back, Sanel Saljic played 88 minutes.

In the second encounter in Skive, Jusic again captained the side until the 58th minute, while Saljic was substituted by team boss Oliver Lederer for the final ten minutes.

Large violet delegation at the U16

Like the U17s, the U16s also played a double international match against Germany in Traunstein. Manfred Zsak nominated Oliver Lukic, Luka Makrisevic, Martin Mitrovic, Marijan Österreicher and Lars Stöckl, giving Austria Wien the largest delegation of players in the 21-man squad.

In the first ever international match for the 2006 crop, Austria drew 3-3 with its northern neighbor. Captain Lukic made up the deficit at the break before four goals were scored between the 72nd and 80th minutes, but Germany were unable to hold on to their 3:1 lead.

In addition to Lukic, who played through in midfield, Österreicher and Makrisevic were also in action, with the latter replacing his teammate in the 58th minute.

Four days later, the two junior national teams drew 2-2, but this time it was the Austrians who took the lead twice. Captain Lukic was again in action for the full distance, Stöckl played through on the wing as well as Österreicher as centre back, Mitrovic was on the field in the first, Makrisevic in the second half. Bitter: Makrisevic scored into his own goal in the last minute of the game.