Although it is just a friendly match, the match against Austria is still of great interest to many fans of the German national team as well as experts because this will be the match that determines the ability to go to Russia for the World Cup of Manuel Neuer, captain of Die Mannschaft.
In the context of the 2018 World Cup starting in 2 more weeks, the German national team only has 2 friendly matches to test its strength, against Austria ( Tonight) and Saudi Arabia (6.9). There is still controversy over the list of the last 23 names when Joachim Low is too favorable for Manuel Neuer - who has been out for almost the entire 2017/18 season (Kevin Trapp was eliminated, the two remaining goalkeepers are Ter Stegen and Bernd Leno), but no one dares to doubt the strength of the world's professional team.
Neuer has not played continuously since mid-September last year and after many missed deadlines, he will officially return in this match. The 32-year-old goalkeeper has been very patient and determined to work with his teammates to defend the world championship.
Coach Joachim Low has affirmed that if he goes to Russia, Neuer will definitely be the captain and the number 1 choice in goal instead of Marc-Andre ter Stegen. In response to that favor, Neuer needs to prove himself against Austria to show that he has completely given up his injury obsession and will become a solid support for his teammates like 4 years ago in Brazil.
In terms of head-to-head record, Germany completely outperformed their opponent tonight - the Austrian Open with 10 wins/11 historical encounters, the rest was a 0-0 draw in November 1992. Right on the away field, the world's professional team also won 6 consecutive victories against the "neighbor".
Meanwhile, although he did not win a ticket to the biggest football festival on the planet, Austria's recent form has been extremely impressive. The 0-1 victory over Russia was Austria's 6th consecutive victory. More notably, besides the 2018 World Cup host team, their list of losers also includes Serbia and Uruguay - both teams that are about to participate in the World Cup.
In this match, coach Joachim Low will definitely rotate and test the squad. With the absence of Toni Kroos, Mats Hummels and Thomas Muller, the opportunity will be given to Ilkay Gundogan, Niklas Sule, Antonio Rudiger and Julian Brandt to show themselves. Nils Petersen, the biggest surprise in Low's preliminary list, also had to take advantage of almost the only opportunity to impress.
Coach Low will finalize the list of 23 players going to Russia on Monday. The performance of the German players, especially Neuer, is therefore worth waiting for. Although it is just a friendship, for many stars, this will be the final match for a ticket to the World Cup.
