Midfielder Konrad Laimer had previously canceled due to muscular problems in the thigh. Team boss Franco Foda did not make any subsequent nominations for the Leipzig legionnaire. His squad, which will meet in Klagenfurt on Monday afternoon, will initially consist of 24 men.
Pentz had three appearances in Austria’s U21s in 2018/19. ÖFB sports director Peter Schöttel described the 24-year-old as an “exciting, positive guy with a good charisma”. Last season, Pentz was voted the best goalkeeper in the Bundesliga. Schöttel: “He has improved enormously in the last year and it absolutely deserves to be there now.”
The Austria goalkeeper is the third goalkeeper in the ÖFB line-up after Daniel Bachmann and Basel veteran Heinz Lindner. Bachmann was last number one in the national team, but has lost his regular place at the English Premier League club Watford in recent weeks. Team boss Foda did not want to commit to a goalkeeper for the games against Israel and Moldova for the time being.
ÖFB squad for World Cup qualification against Israel and Moldova
Tor: Daniel Bachmann (Watford, 11 internationals), Heinz Lindner (FC Basel, 28), Patrick Pentz (Austria Wien, 0)
Defense: David Alaba (Real Madrid, 90 international matches / 14 goals), Aleksandar Dragovic (Roter Stern Belgrade, 96/2), Martin Hinteregger (Eintracht Frankfurt, 64/4), Philipp Lienhart (SC Freiburg, 7/0), Stefan Posch ( TSG Hoffenheim, 14/1), Christopher Trimmel (Union Berlin, 18/0), Andreas Ulmer (Red Bull Salzburg, 28/0)
Midfield: Christoph Baumgartner (TSG Hoffenheim, 17/6), Yusuf Demir (FC Barcelona 4/0), Florian Grillitsch (Hoffenheim, 31/1), Marco Grüll (Rapid Vienna, 1/0), Stefan Ilsanker (Eintracht Frankfurt, 59 / 0), Dejan Ljubicic (1. FC Cologne, 1/0), Marcel Sabitzer (Bayern Munich, 56/9), Louis Schaub (1. FC Cologne, 27/6), Alessandro Schöpf (Arminia Bielefeld, 30/5) , Nicolas Seiwald (Red Bull Salzburg, 0)
Attack: Junior Adamu (Red Bull Salzburg, 0), Marko Arnautovic (Bologna, 94/29), Ercan Kara (Rapid Vienna, 6/0), Karim Onisiwo (FSV Mainz, 14/1)
On call: Martin Fraisl (Schalke, 0), Jörg Siebenhandl (Sturm Graz, 2), Cican Stankovic (AEK Athens, 4) – Kevin Danso (RC Lens, 6/0), Marco Friedl (Werder Bremen, 3/0), Phillipp Mwene (PSV Eindhoven, 1/0), Gernot Trauner (Feyenoord Rotterdam, 5/1), Maximilian Ullmann (Rapid Wien, 0), Maximilian Wöber (Red Bull Salzburg, 6/0) – Jakob Jantscher (Sturm Graz, 23/1 ), Florian Kainz (1. FC Köln, 20/0), Stefan Schwab (PAOK Saloniki, 1/0), Patrick Wimmer (Arminia Bielefeld, 0) – Adrian Grbic (FC Lorient, 9/4), Michael Gregoritsch (FC Augsburg, 33/5)
