Austria name young squad for World Cup qualifiers

Austrian coach Dietmar Constantini has named an injury-enforced young squad for World Cup qualifiers against the Faroe Islands on Saturday and an away match against Romania on September 9.

Experienced defenders Emanuel Pogatetz of Middlesbrough and Werder Bremen’s Sebastian Prodl, and Austria Vienna striker Rubin Okotie will all miss the games through injury, leaving the squad with an average age of just 24 years.

Captain Paul Scharner, who plays for Wigan, is also suspended for the first game against the Faroes.

Austria squad

Goalkeepers: Helge Payer (Rapid Vienna), Andreas Schranz (Austria Carinthia) Christian Gratzei (Sturm Graz)

Defenders: Aleksandar Dragovic (Austria Vienna), Christian Fuchs (Bochum/GER), Gyorgy Garics (Bergamo/ITA), Manuel Ortlechner (Austria Vienna), Jurgen Patocka (Rapid Vienna), Franz Schiemer (Salzburg), Andreas Ulmer (Salzburg)

Midfielders: Julian Baumgartlinger (Austria Vienna), Daniel Beichler (Sturm Graz), Christopher Drazan (Rapid Vienna), Andreas Holzl (Sturm Graz), Jakob Jantscher (Sturm Graz), Christoph Leitgeb (Salzburg), Yasin Pehlivan (Rapid Vienna), Paul Scharner (Wigan/ENG), Christopher Trimmel (Rapid Vienna)

Strikers: Erwin Hoffer (Napoli/ITA), Marc Janko (Salzburg), Stefan Maierhofer (Wolverhampton/ENG), Roman Wallner (Linz)