Austria's National Team Plays Internal Friendly Instead of Guatemala Match

Instead of the roughly three-hour bus ride in one direction to the Rose Bowl Stadium, "sind es nun wieder zehn Minuten in Richtung Trainingsplatz" to the training grounds at the university campus in Santa Barbara. There, an internal friendly will take place on Wednesday between Austria I, "in den roten Heimdressen", and Austria II, "in den weißen Auswärtsdressen". "Auch ein professionelles Schiedsrichterteam wurde engagiert", with the match taking place behind closed doors. "Zusehen werden wohl ein paar Bauarbeiter, die neben dem Trainingsplatz am Uni-Gelände von Santa Barbara in luftiger Höhe ihre Arbeit verrichten."

Internal Friendly with Clear Competitive Character

Team coach Ralf Rangnick was even happy about it. At a press conference on Tuesday, David Affengruber and his defensive colleague Michael Svoboda also commented on the changed situation. Affengruber said: "Es ist ein Testspiel, in dem man sich zeigen kann." Svoboda emphasized: "Es geht für uns auch darum, dass wir vor dem Beginn noch einmal ein Spiel haben, ein bisschen in den Rhythmus kommt".

The internal test match is scheduled for three sections of 20 minutes each. The changed schedule gives the team more time on the training pitch, where Marko Arnautovic and David Alaba are also joining team training. "Das Duo soll nach zuletzt nur individuellen Trainingseinheiten ab sofort dabei sein." Thursday is scheduled as a training-free day for the Austrian squad.

Arnautovic and Alaba Back in Team Training

Austria's World Cup opener is scheduled for 17 June, six days after the internal friendly, in Santa Barbara. The match will kick off at 06:00 CEST and will be broadcast live on ORF1.

The unusual solution with an internal scrimmage shows that the team staff is focusing on regeneration and gelling together ahead of the first World Cup match. Instead of a long journey and an unfamiliar opponent, the team remains in its familiar camp structure and can simulate the routines under competitive conditions.

Outlook on the World Cup Opener on 17 June

By foregoing the Guatemala match, the risk of injury immediately before the start of the tournament is also eliminated. Coaches and players had recently emphasized that every training session and every friendly is meant to serve the final polish for the World Cup opener.

The internal friendly in Santa Barbara is therefore less a replacement programme than a deliberate preparation for the upcoming World Cup start – without travel stress, without public pressure, but with a clear competitive character thanks to the specially engaged refereeing team.