Alaba, Fuchs headline Austria in Euro 2016

 Austria coach Marcel Koller on Tuesday named his 23-man Euro 2016 line-up headlined by David Alaba and Christian Fuchs, winners of league titles in Germany and England respectively.

Koller made the announcement after his side beat Malta 2-1 in a pre-European tournament friendly in Klagenfurt despite an Alaba own goal.

Early goals by Marko Arnautovic and Alessandro Schoepf helped Austria to victory before Alaba's blunder in the 87th minute as he cleared to keeper Ramazan Oezcan, who was standing beside his goal.

The 23-year-old Alaba, fresh from winning a fifth Bundesliga title with Bayern Munich, will occupy the role of versatile midfielder in France, beside Marko Arnautovic and Martin Harnik.

The Austrian defence is built around captain Fuchs, winner of the English Premier League title with Leicester City, backed up by Aleksandar Dragovic, who returns from injury.

Veteran Marc Janko, also a recent injury worry, will be up front, alongside Rubin Okotie and Lukas Hinterseer.

One player leaves Koller's 24-man group named mid-May - Salzburg's Valentino Lazaro, at 20 years the youngest squad member.

Austria qualified for the first time for the tournament after nine wins and a draw, although they competed in Euro 2008 as one of the host countries.

Drawn in Group F, Austria open their campaign against Hungary on June 14 before ties against Portugal and Iceland.

Koller's side play a final friendly against the Netherlands on June 4 in Vienna.

23-man Austria squad for Euro 2016

Goalkeepers (3): Robert Almer (Austria Vienna), Heinz Lindner (Eintracht Frankfurt/GER), Ramazan Oezcan (Ingolstadt/GER)

Defedners (8): Aleksandar Dragovic (Dynamo Kiev/UKR), Christian Fuchs (Leicester City/ENG), Gyorgy Garics (Darmstadt/GER), Martin Hinteregger (Borussia Moenchengladbach/GER), Florian Klein (Stuttgart/GER), Sebastian Prodl (Watford/ENG), Markus Suttner (Ingolstadt/GER), Kevin Wimmer (Tottenham Hotspur/ENG)

Midfielders (9): David Alaba (Bayern Munich/GER), Marko Arnautovic (Stoke City/ENG), Julian Baumgartlinger (Mainz/GER), Martin Harnik (Stuttgart/GER), Stefan Ilsanker (RB Leipzig/GER), Jakob Jantscher (Lucerne/SUI), Zlatko Junuzovic (Werder Bremen/GER), Marcel Sabitzer (RB Leipzig/GER), Alessandro Schoepf (Schalke/GER)

Strikers (3): Lukas Hinterseer (Ingolstadt/GER), Rubin Okotie (1860 Munich/GER), Marc Janko (Basel/SUI).
Source : AFP