Austria targeting their 36th win over France

Austria lost 1:2 to France in overtime at the 2023 World Championship. That exact game was analysed in detail, with selected clips to be shown to the national team in preparation for the match. There is still a question mark over the French squad, as no roster update has been available since the call-up was announced last week. Head Coach Roger Bader: "I naturally looked at their squad last week after it was announced. Like ours, it consists of around 60 per cent players with World Championship experience and around 40 per cent players who could be described as challengers. I assume they have also had withdrawals over the past few days. We will therefore see tomorrow what team they field."

Regardless of that, the focus for the head coach is initially on his own team's game: "Fundamentally, we want to impose and implement our own game. Of course, we are also studying our opponents closely. We play France regularly, so we know them and they know us."

The aim for the opening game of the Four Nations Tournament, which is played in a semi-final and final format, is a win. The defeat at the 2023 World Championship ended a short run of three consecutive wins against France. They want to pick up from there again on Friday evening. Head Coach Roger Bader on the tournament objectives: "We are taking it step by step and day by day. We want to beat France and, once we have achieved that, we will set our next objective for Saturday."

Leon Wallner was also called up at short notice on Wednesday and travelled directly to France with the national team on Thursday morning. This brought the squad back up to 21 skaters, Roger Bader: "Leon is a talented player who is now getting the opportunity to come in. He will certainly play at least one game. In addition, we wanted to take precautions in case a player gets injured or falls ill, so that we do not have to compete with a reduced squad."

February break

Team camp, 05–11 February 2024
Four Nations Tournament, 09–10 February 2024, Epinal (FRA)

Schedule

France vs Austria
Fri, 09 February 2024, 20:00, live on ORF SPORT +

Austria vs Denmark/Norway
Sat, 10 February 2024, 16:00, live on ORF SPORT +

Squad