While Marco Friedl and Romano Schmid take to the pitch with Austria in the Nations League on Thursday, one of their club teammates will have to watch from the sofa. For the first time in over half a year, Marco Grüll did not receive a call-up to the Austria national squad from head coach Ralf Rangnick. “Obviously, I wanted to get picked,” told the 26-year-old. “However, if I continue to give it my all and produce my best showing then I am sure I’ll be selected once again.”
For Grüll, SV Werder Bremen is the first club he has played for outside his home country. In this next chapter of his career, he wants to prove that he can make the step up. “I feel very comfortable here after the team gave me such a great welcome,” reports the five-time Austria international, who already knows his club teammates Friedl and Schmid from the national side. Right now, Grüll is still having to get to grips with the new league. “The German Bundesliga is better in every respect, and every day I work on trying to reach that level as quickly as possible.”
The adaptation that the versatile forward will have to undergo has also been emphasised by Austria’s longstanding record international appearance holder, Andreas Herzog. At the 25-year anniversary celebration of the 1999 DFB-Pokal triumph, the SVW legend reiterated his expectation that Grüll will make his mark, something he had already expressed in a previous interview. “He had a fantastic career and was a great player for Bremen,” said Grüll. “It is really nice to hear that he has said those sorts of things about me, because I have already played a couple of times against the teams he’s been coaching.”
Werder’s number 17 is currently working hard to be best-prepared for the next match, where the Green-Whites will be hoping to get back to winning ways and press on from there. “Our aim has to be to win those matches where the small details decide the game, like against Freiburg,” said Grüll. The summer signing hopes to play his part in achieving that, as well as getting back on international duty soon.
