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Dream come true for Green-White trio heading to the World Cup
THESE WERDER PLAYERS HAVE BEEN CALLED UP TO REPRESENT THEIR NATIONS THIS SUMMER
18/05/26
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For three Green-Whites, it’s set to be far from a break from footballing endeavours this summer. Romano Schmid, Marco Friedl (both Austria) and Yukinari Sugawara (Japan) have all been named in the provisional squad for their respective nations ahead of this year’s FIFA World Cup (11th June to 19th July). Here’s where our World Cup stars will be and when, and what they had to say on their respective nominations.
“As a young boy you have this dream, but you never know whether it will actually come true,” says Werder captain Friedl. “It’s an absolute highlight of my career and I’m incredibly proud.”
You’d have to cast your mind back to 1998 to recall the last time Austria qualified for the World Cup tournament, with none other than SVW legend Andreas Herzog leading the line for the side. The almost 30-year hiatus until their next appearance on the highest of stages made that fateful November night at Vienna’s Ernst-Happel-Stadion all the more emotional, as veteran forward Michael Gregoritsch levelled against Bosnia and Herzegovina to make it 1-1. The draw saw Austria seal their spot at the final tournament in the USA, Canada and Mexico. The team will begin their preparations at the ÖFB Campus in Vienna before crossing the Atlantic at the end of the month, with a friendly game against Tunisia (1st June, kick-off 20:45 CEST) scheduled ahead of their next stop, the Team Base Camp in the USA.
Schmid, Friedl and their countrymen will make their way to Los Angeles before heading up to their camp in sunny Santa Barbara. Ralf Rangnick’s men will take part in a final friendly fixture against Guatemala in Pasadena (11th June, kick-off 06:00 CEST), before their World Cup group stage games against Jordan (17th June, kick-off 06:00 CEST in Santa Clara), current World Champions Argentina (22nd June, kick-off 19:00 CEST in Dallas) and Algeria (28th June, 04:00 CEST, Kansas City) get underway.
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Japan, meanwhile, made their World Cup debut in 1998 and have qualified for every tournament since. Werder loanee Yukinari Sugawara has earned 20 caps to date, but the finals in Canada, Mexico and the USA will mark a completely new experience for him. “Playing at a World Cup is one of the greatest things you can achieve as a footballer,” said Sugawara. “I’m incredibly proud to be part of it this year – it’s a childhood dream come true.”
Japan will face the Netherlands (14th June, kick-off 22:00 CEST in Dallas), Tunisia (21st June, kick-off 06:00 CEST, Monterrey) and Sweden (26th June, kick-off 01:00 CEST in Dallas) in the group stage and will be aiming to go beyond the round of 16 for the first time in their history. The Japan Football Association has selected the training facilities of MLS side Nashville SC as the team’s base camp for the tournament. Before departing for the United States, Sugawara and Co. will play one final warm-up match against Iceland in Tokyo on 31st May.
In line with FIFA regulations, all national team coaches must submit their final World Cup squads by 1st June at the latest. While Olivier Deman and Senne Lynen were not included in Belgium’s preliminary squad, Switzerland are unveiling their selection gradually through the social-media campaign “FIND THE SQUAD”. Isaac Schmidt has previously been called up for several Switzerland training camps, but missed out during the most recent international break.
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