Austria's Alaba to miss WCup qualifier vs. Germany

Austria's Alaba to miss WCup qualifier vs. Germany

Published Aug. 28, 2012 11:23 a.m. ET

Austria coach Marcel Koller left injured midfielder David Alaba out of his squad for next month's 2014 World Cup qualifier against Germany.

The Bayern Munich player fractured his left foot in July and was unlikely to recover in time for the Sept. 11 Group C game in Vienna.

''Alaba won't be added to the squad even if he gets fit just in time,'' Koller said Tuesday. ''That would make no sense.''

Werder Bremen winger Marko Arnautovic, who missed Austria's 2-0 win over Turkey this month with a thigh injury, returned to the 23-man squad.

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Defender Franz Schiemer replaced Paul Scharner, who had been expelled from the national team following a dispute with Koller before the Turkey game.

Scharner left the team hotel a few hours before the match after he unsuccessfully demanded a place in the starting lineup.

Schiemer had been overlooked by Koller for the past three matches after scheduling his wedding for the same day in June that Austria was playing a friendly against Ukraine.

In addition to Germany, Austria's group also includes the Faeroe Islands, Sweden, Ireland and Kazakhstan.

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Squad:

Goalkeepers: Robert Almer (Duesseldorf), Christian Gratzei (Sturm Graz), Heinz Lindner (Austria Vienna)

Defenders: Aleksandar Dragovic (FC Basel), Christian Fuchs (Schalke), Gyorgy Garics (Bologna), Florian Klein (Salzburg), Emanuel Pogatetz (Wolfsburg), Sebastian Proedl (Werder Bremen), Franz Schiemer (Salzburg), Markus Suttner (Austria Vienna)

Midfielders: Julian Baumgartlinger (Mainz), Guido Burgstaller (Rapid Vienna), Martin Harnik (Stuttgart), Andreas Ivanschitz (Mainz), Jakob Jantscher (Salzburg), Zlatko Junuzovic (Werder Bremen), Veli Kavlak (Besiktas), Christoph Leitgeb (Salzburg), Yasin Pehlivan (Gaziantepspor)

Forwards: Marko Arnautovic (Werder Bremen), Patrick Buerger (Mattersburg), Marc Janko (FC Porto)

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