Ireland have issues to contend with ahead of the visit of Austria on June 11th: mounting injuries, and the poor club form of a number of first-team regulars, along with the less tangible challenge of the opportunity to kill off an opponent, rather than grasp for their coat tails.
Not that everything is going well for the Austrians, either. Four points adrift of Ireland, they'll arrive in Dublin needing a win, but are increasingly bereft of the tools they need to do so.
Manager Marcel Koller named a 23-man squad for the game today, with top scorer Marko Anautovic absent through suspension.
Also missing is RB Salzburg's left-back Andres Ulmer, who has fixed his wedding for the weekend of the Irish game.
Koller addressed his absence in front of the media, and he is not best pleased:
Since 2002, there has been an international game at the end of the season.
The player has been called up for years, but he decides to plan his wedding instead of joining up with the team. I can’t understand that.
This is a public call to the players, which is a damn important game, we have to be ready and focused from the first minute of the camp.
It’s important that everyone thinks about what they want, and if they want to be part of the national team, it means having a red-white-red heart with a lot of passion.
You have to prepare yourself mentally or say ‘I do not play in the team’ There is only one option – being at full throttle for Austria.
Ulmer, in fairness, is hardly a regular: he has picked up just three caps since 2009, but there appears to be a level of apathy in the squad that does not exist within Ireland's: Kevin Long, for example, is willing to miss his brother's wedding to link up with the senior squad for the first time.
David Alaba's talents are unlikely to be confined to left-back, meaning Spurs' Kevin Wimmer is likely to continue in that position. Christan Fuchs decided he had nothing more to give after the Euros last year by announcing his retirement.
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