Vienna: Austria coach Marcel Koller announced no new names Thursday in his preliminary 24-man squad for next month’s European Championship.
“We rely on the proven team,” said Koller, who will drop one player after a friendly game with Malta in Klagenfurt on May 31, the deadline for submitting his final squad of 23 to Uefa.
Koller’s choices include only two players from Austrian clubs — Austria Vienna goalkeeper Robert Almer and Salzburg midfielder Valentino Lazaro — while Bayern Munich midfielder David Alaba leads a legion of 16 players from Germany’s first and second divisions.
Four-time international Lazaro was the only surprise name as he had not been called up since October 2014.
Koller was reluctant to explain why he dropped Nuremberg midfielder Guido Burgstaller in favour of Lazaro, other than saying the Salzburg player “can play several positions.”
Austria, who co-hosted the competition in 2008 but have qualified for the first time, will prepare for the tournament during an eight-day training camp in Switzerland. Four days after hosting Malta, Austria play the Netherlands in Vienna in their final warm-up game.
Defender Aleksandar Dragovic and striker Marc Janko have been out injured but were expected to be fit in time for the training camp, which starts May 22.
Austria are in a group with Hungary, Portugal and Iceland at the June 10-July 10 tournament in France.
