Marcel Sabitzer sets his stall out as he remains ultra ambitious

There was clearly extra pressure on Sabitzer within youth football, as is the case with all youngsters whose fathers have already made a successful career in the game. The secret appeared to be to work harder than anybody else and focus on a simple goal: to somehow, one day, surpass Herfried’s notable achievements.

“Yes, in the first years [there was pressure],” he admitted. “You know, there was a lot of noise around. ‘Oh, he is just playing because of his father’. But, yeah, in the end, they see I am here and it was okay that I was playing a lot in the youth [sides]. I was a good talent and I was working hard and I think people saw that earlier.

“From very young, I was very focused on it. I was seeing my dad playing in the [Austrian] Bundesliga, and in the national team, so that was my goal – to be better than him [laughs]. I was focused on that.”

Now he has 68 caps for Austria, with more likely to follow during this international break, does he tell his dad he has achieved this aim? Again, there was a laugh from the versatile midfielder.

“We had chats in the past but, yeah, he’s proud and I’m talking to him a lot,” he smiled. “So he is a proud dad.”