Captain Laimer leads Austria to draw in final pre-Euros friendly
The Austrian national team led by Bayern's Konrad Laimer earned a draw in their last friendly ahead of the European Championship. The game against Switzerland in St. Gallen on Saturday evening finished 1-1.
Coach Ralf Rangnick played Laimer in a central midfield position from the start. The defensive specialist captained his team in the clash with Germany's group opponents and was substituted in the 76th minute. Christoph Baumgartner had put the Austrians ahead early in the game. After a solo run over half of the pitch, the forward tucked the ball past goalkeeper Yann Sommer to make it 1-0 (5th minute).
The Nati came up with the right response before the break. Austria keeper Heinz Lindner was able to block a cross from the left, but he coukld do nothing about poacher Silvan Widmer's follow-up (26').
Rangnick's side start the tournament on 17 June against France in Düsseldorf (21:00 CEST), a game which will see Laimer come up against Munich teammates Dayot Upamecano and Kingsley Coman. They then follow that up with a match against Poland on 21 June (18:00 CEST) in Berlin and will also play their final group game in the capital, against Matthijs de Ligt's Netherlands on 25 June (18:00 CEST).
Several Bayern players already saw action with their national teams on Friday:
