Austria axe Kenyan born defender from Euros squad

Kenyan defender Philipp Mwene’s dream of featuring in the UEFA European Football Championship has been cut short after he was axed from the Austrian squad.

Mwene is yet to make an appearance for the senior Austrian team but was called up in the preliminary 30-man Euros squad on Wednesday 19 May.

The 27-year-old has had an outstanding season in the Bundesliga for his side Mainz 05, scoring against Hertha Berlin and providing two assists including one against Bayern Munich. 

The Austrian national team head coach Franco Foda had heaped praise on Mwene following his inclusion in the preliminary squad.

“Philipp Mwene has developed extremely well. He is a very dynamic player who sets good accents especially in the forward movement,” said Foda.

The former Kaiserslautern defender was born to a Kenyan father and Austrian mother in Vienna, Austria and holds dual citizenship of Kenya and Austria.

Harambee Stars has contacted Mwene for a number of call ups but the defender is yet to honour the calls having represented Austria at junior level.

Austria will be looking to get past the group stages for the first time in their third attempt after making their debut back in 2008 and made their second appearance in the 2016 edition. 

Austria Euro 2020 squad

Goalkeepers: Daniel Bachmann (Watford), Pavao Pervan (Wolfsburg), Alexander Schlager (LASK)

Defenders: David Alaba (Bayern), Aleksandar Dragovic (Leverkusen), Marco Friedl (Werder Bremen) Martin Hinteregger (Frankfurt), Stefan Lainer (Monchengladbach), Philipp Lienhart (Freiburg), Stefan Posch (Hoffenheim), Christopher Trimmel (Union Berlin), Andreas Ulmer (Salzburg)

Midfielders: Julian Baumgartlinger (Leverkusen), Christoph Baumgartner (Hoffenheim), Florian Grillitsch (Hoffenheim), Stefan Ilsanker (Frankfurt), Konrad Laimer (Leipzig), Valentino Lazaro (Internazionale), Marcel Sabitzer (Leipzig), Louis Schaub (Luzern), Xaver Schlager (Wolfsburg), Alessandro Schopf (Schalke)

Attackers: Marko Arnautovic (Shanghai Port), Michael Gregoritsch (Augsburg), Sasa Kalajdzic (Stuttgart), Karim Onisiwo (Mainz)