David Alaba #8

Profile

Possibly Austria’s greatest footballer of all time, Alaba may be in the autumn of his career, but he remains central to the national team. Injured at Euro 2024, he was still named by Ralf Rangnick as a non-playing captain and remained one of the driving forces in a squad whose cohesion is as important as individual quality. He is the face of the generation that has transformed Austrian football, with his buildup play, reading of the game and versatility earning the nickname “God” from Pep Guardiola. A four-times Champions League winner, Alaba showed how much the national team means to him when he said: “Qualifying for the World Cup is something I rank right at the top of my career.” Talent runs in the family: his Nigerian father once had a No 2 hit in the Austrian charts with Indian Song while his sister is also a musician. As for this summer, Alaba has no doubt: “Austria will have a successful World Cup, I’m convinced of that. I can feel that we’re going there to make history.”

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