Today's Talking Points
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1Austria have had their best decade in football for 50 years. Under Ralf Rangnick, who left Manchester United for the national job, they've become a physically intense, well-organised team that caused problems for everyone in European qualifying.
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2Ralf Rangnick is a fascinating figure if you want to sound knowledgeable — he's the man who invented the high-pressing style now used by Liverpool, Manchester City and Bayern Munich. He's running a national team of 9 million people and making it look deceptively straightforward.
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3Marcel Sabitzer is their captain — the Borussia Dortmund midfielder brings energy and technical quality that epitomises the modern Austrian approach. He's the engine the team runs through.
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4Austria are in Group J with Argentina, Algeria and Jordan. Qualifying from this group would be a significant achievement. But Austria have beaten better opposition in recent qualifying campaigns, and Rangnick's teams are never easy to play against.
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5Austria actually qualified ahead of Germany for the 2024 Euros. If someone trots out "Austria are just Germany but worse", this is the specific fact you want to have ready.
🍺 Top Thing To Say Down The Pub
Rangnick invented the high-pressing style that Liverpool and Man City use, then decided to go and run the Austrian national team. He is making it work.
🚫 Avoid Saying
"Austria are just Germany but worse" — they qualified above Germany for the 2024 Euros. The era of that being a safe thing to say is genuinely over.