Euro 2020 – who is Austria’s manager? Everything you need to know about Franco Foda

Franco Foda
(Image credit: PA)

Franco Foda will be leading Austria at Euro 2020, after they finished second behind Poland in their qualifying group.

Austria made a poor start to qualification, losing their opening two games to Poland and Israel, before recovering to make it through.

This will be just their third appearance in a European Championship, having exited at the group stage in 2016 and when they co-hosted with Switzerland in 2008.

Foda has been in charge of Austria since January 2018, having previously managed his former clubs Sturm Graz and FC Kaiserslautern.

He also played for Arminia Bielefeld, Bayer Leverkusen and Stuttgart in a professional career that spanned 18 years.

Foda was a West German international defender, winning two caps, against Brazil and Argentina, under Franz Beckenbauer in 1987.

Since retiring, the 55-year-old has had three separate spells in charge of Sturm Graz, the club where he ended his playing career, winning the Austrian Cup in 2010 and the Austrian Bundesliga in 2011.

His only experience of managing outside of Austria came at FC Kaiserslautern, but it lasted for little over a year.

He then returned to Sturm Graz, stepping down after three years in charge to take up the national team job, where he has enjoyed an impressive record.

Austria have been drawn in Group C alongside the Netherlands, Ukraine and first-time qualifiers North Macedonia.

The versatile David Alaba is Austria’s biggest star, having won 10 Bundesliga titles and the Champions League twice during 11 years at Bayern Munich.

He has announced that he will be leaving the club this summer, with Real Madrid expected to be his preferred destination.

RB Leipzig’s Marcel Sabitzer has emerged as one of his country’s best player, while veteran striker Marco Arnautovic will be familiar to English audiences having spent six years in the Premier League.

FourFourTwo Staff

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