The beginning of training with the main team in the pouring rain

The Austrian national football team held its only general training session in Vienna on Monday evening. In the pouring rain, team boss Ralf Rangnick begins preparations for Friday’s crucial European Championship qualifier (8.45pm/live on ServusTV) at the Ernst Happel Stadium against Belgium with less than half his current squad of 27 players and a light contingent. About 200 spectators and autograph hunters braved the conditions.

Despite some cosmetic measures, Rangnick remains unsatisfied with the quality of the training ground at the Prater, which he had publicly criticized the previous week. He had ten field players and goalkeeper Niklas Heidel practicing on it for about 45 minutes. Dortmund legionnaire Marcel Sabitzer, who suffers from adductor muscle problems, performed individual exercises with a light ball. Freiburg striker Michael Gregoritsch, who was also injured, was not present at the training field.

Due to the quality of the pitch, there has been talk of moving the first full training session ahead of the Belgium match on Tuesday afternoon (11:30am) to the center court of the Hubble Stadium. The unit is already scheduled to be there on Wednesday and final training on Thursday. In the dry stadium corridor, Rangnick and his followers were available for fans in attendance after the opening training session to capture autographs and pose for selfies. Injured stars David Alaba and Marko Arnautovic were, of course, absent.