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19.10 – In a few minutes the press conference of Ralph Rangnick. The technical commissioner ofAustria will present the friendly test against theItaly which will be staged tomorrow at the Ernst-Happel-Stadion in Vienna.
CLICK HERE for the press conference of Robert Mancini.
19.53 – The press conference begins:
Why were only 17,000 tickets sold?
“I don’t know, I really don’t know. I haven’t been here for so long to judge, the matches between Austria and Italy should tend to be sold out. Let’s hope tomorrow some other fan will buy a ticket at the last moment”.
Is there any news on injuries? Mancini will play with a 3-4-3
“There are four injured players. Then there are the others, but I can’t tell you the formation, nor the formation with which we will take the field.”
What kind of Italy do you expect? Does he want to respond to Ronaldo?
“We’ll play a game in which we’ll try to be as strong as possible, we want to win. I’ve already answered the second question, it’s not my job to answer Cristiano Ronaldo, it’s Manchester United’s job.”
How do you see the development of the Italian national team?
“There have been some changes, the team that won the European Championship had more experience while tomorrow many younger players will play. It was the same against Albania, they are opening the track for the new generations. It will be a very disciplined Italy tactically, Italy is a strong team and we want to challenge these strong opponents.”
What are the lessons you bring with you from this retreat?
“There’s still tomorrow’s match… Some hadn’t seen each other often, but I’ve seen good things. It helped us get to know each other better, we trained in ideal conditions.”
TMW – What is your opinion on this Serie A and on Pioli’s Milan?
“We too have players in Serie A in our squad, like Posch and Arnautovic. We watch Serie A matches and it’s a very important league. Napoli have had a spectacular season so far, they’re practically unbeaten. Milan won the Scudetto, he progressed in the Champions League and he has worked really well in the last 2-3 years”.
How much enthusiasm is there in playing on the day the World Cup begins? Will you be watching Ecuador-Qatar?
“I don’t think I’ll watch many World Cup matches. I’ll just watch the ones I need to prepare for Austria’s next matches.”
Who will be your goalkeeper?
“The question arises at the end of March, there are still four months to go. We have to think about all the positions for March, including that of the goalkeeper”.
The last time Austria played against Italy at the European Championship, how much does that game influence you?
“I don’t know, I haven’t seen that specific match. I’ve seen the Nations League matches against England and Germany, sometimes they start with a back four, sometimes with a three and it’s no surprise that they have chosen this system of play. We just need to figure out if they’ll play with one or two strikers, we’ll figure it out tomorrow.”
20.16 – The press conference is over.