Austria's Arnautovic overlooked for Germany game

Austria's Arnautovic overlooked for Germany game

Published May. 19, 2011 12:24 p.m. ET

Austria coach Dietmar Constantini has overlooked striker Marko Arnautovic for next month's 2012 European Championship qualifier against Germany and the friendly game against Latvia.

The Werder Bremen winger, who is Austria's leading scorer in qualifying with three goals, was left out of the 23-man squad announced Thursday by Constantini.

''It's not good when a player has so much potential but does not deliver,'' Constantini said.

Arnautovic has been firmly criticized for lackluster performances against Turkey and Belgium in March. Austria lost both matches 2-0 to leave itself with only a slim chance to reach next year's finals tournament.

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Also missing from the squad were goalkeeper Jurgen Macho because of a torn left thigh muscle and striker Stefan Maierhofer, who is recovering from a broken right foot.

Four players got their first call-up, including goalkeeper Hans-Peter Berger, defender Thomas Schrammel and midfielders Daniel Royer and Manuel Weber.

Austria plays Germany in a Group A qualifying match in Vienna on June 3 before taking on Latvia in Graz four days later.

Austria has seven points from five matches, while Germany leads the group with the maximum 15 out of five. The finals tournament takes place in Poland and Ukraine in June and July next year.

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Austria squad:

Goalkeepers: Helge Payer (Rapid Vienna), Christian Gratzei (Sturm Graz), Hans-Peter Berger (Admira).

Defenders: Aleksandar Dragovic (Basel), Manuel Ortlechner (Austria Vienna), Emanuel Pogatetz (Hannover), Thomas Schrammel (Ried), Ekrem Dag (Besiktas), Christian Fuchs (Mainz), Florian Klein (Austria Vienna).

Midfielders: Paul Scharner (West Bromwich Albion), David Alaba (Hoffenheim), Julian Baumgartlinger (Austria Vienna), Andreas Hoelzl (Sturm Graz), Zlatko Junuzovic (Austria Vienna), Stefan Kulovits (Rapid Vienna), Christoph Leitgeb (Salzburg), Daniel Royer (Ried), Manuel Weber (Sturm Graz).

Forwards: Erwin Hoffer (Kaiserslautern), Marc Janko (FC Twente), Roman Kienast (Sturm Graz), Martin Harnik (Stuttgart).

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