Sebastian Prodl says Austria will look to prove they can compete with the best once again when they take on Brazil this afternoon.
Austria head into the clash on the back of a 2-1 victory over world champions Germany, which ended a 32-year wait to secure a win over their neighbours.
With Brazil among the favourites to win the World Cup in Russia, overcoming a side inspired featuring the planet’s most expensive player in Neymar would present a considerable double scalp for Austria.
Prodl expects a tough test and believes it will be important for Austria’s development to prove they are once again a match.
“We saw Neymar back scoring a beauty [in the 2-0 win over Croatia] and they are true contenders,” Prodl said. “It will be the strongest Brazil squad we could expect.
“They are hungry for the title and they are going to try and win the World Cup. It is a big, big game for us even though it is a friendly. We will try to compete and that is the most important thing for us.”
Coming from behind to defeat Germany last Saturday will have filled Austria with confidence but they will still be underdogs against Brazil.
The German’s made a number of changes to their starting XI and Prodl doesn’t expect the same luxury to be afforded today.
He said: “Germany is also a title contender and are the World Champions. I think Brazil will be a little bit of a different game because Germany maybe tried some new players to decide on their World Cup squad.
“They changed their starting XI a little bit and it will be different against Brazil.”
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