Austria Football Formation

Lineup (5-3-2)

Rodolphe Hiden · Josef Blum · Karl Rainer · Josef Smistik · Walter Nausch · Leopold Hofmann · Matthias Sindelar (c) · Adolf Vogl · Karl Zischek · Friedrich Gschweidl · Anton Schall

Austria "Wunderteam" XI (1932)

Firstly this is a classic 2-3-5 Pyramid formation, rather than the 5-3-2 as specified wrongly.

"Wunderteam" was the name given to the Austria national football team of the 1930s. Led by manager Hugo Meisl, the team had an unbeaten streak of 14 games between April 1931 and December 1932. The style of the team was based on the Scottish school of football that focused on quick passing introduced by Englishman Jimmy Hogan. The forward line was complemented by wide half-backs and an attacking centre-half. Matthias Sindelar, Josef Smistik and Walter Nausch formed the core of the team that would dominate European football during that era. Matthias Sindelar, known as Der Papierene (The Papery Man) due to his slight build, was the star and captain of the team.

The death of the manager Hugo Meisl in 1937, marked the end of rein Wunderteam. Finally in 1939 the mysterious death of Matthias Sindelar confirmed the end of greatest pre-war player and the greatest pre-war team.

The ill-fated Austrian Wunderteam is also credited in some circles as being the first national team to play Total Football. It is no coincidence that Ernst Happel, a talented Austrian player in the 1940s and 1950s, was coach in the Netherlands in the late 1960s and early 1970s. He introduced a tougher style of play at the clubs ADO and Feyenoord, and managed the Netherlands national team in the 1978 World Cup, where they finished as runners-up for the second time in a row.