Austria caretaker manager Willi Ruttensteiner has given a shock recall to Andreas Ivanschitz for two Euro 2012 Group A qualifiers, against Azerbaijan on October 7 and Kazakhstan four days later.
Ivanschitz, who plays for Mainz in Germany's Bundesliga, had played his 49th and last match for Austria in a February 2009 match against Sweden.
But he could make his return to the national team in either Baku or Astana where Austria will mainly be playing for pride.
Ahead of their next two qualifiers, Austria are virtually eliminated. They sit fourth in Group A, six points behind second place -- synonymous with a place in the play-offs.
Their mediocre campaign led to the sacking of coach Dietmar Constantini following the scoreless draw at home against Turkey on September 6.
Germany have already qualified from Group A, with Turkey and Belgium battling for second place.
Goalkeepers: Robert Almer (Fortuna Dusseldorf/GER), Pascal GrUnwald (Austria Vienna), Jorg Siebenhandl (Wiener Neustadt)
Defenders: Ekrem Dag (Besiktas Istanbul/TUR), Aleksandar Dragovic (FC Basel/SUI), Christian Fuchs (Schalke 04/GER), Florian Klein (Austria), Manuel Ortlechner (Austria), Emanuel Pogatetz (Hanover/GER), Sebastian Prodl (Werder Bremen/GER), Franz Schiemer (Salzburg)
Midfielders: David Alaba (Bayern Munich/GER), Julian Baumgartlinger (Mainz/GER), Martin Harnik (Stuttgart/GER), Andreas Ivanschitz (Mainz/GER), Jakob Jantscher (Salzburg), Zlatko Junuzovic (Austria), Paul Scharner (West Bromwich/ENG), Christopher Trimmel (Rapid Vienna)
Forwards: Marko Arnautovic (Werder Bremen/GER), Philipp Hosiner (Admira Vienna), Marc Janko (Twente Enschede/NED), Stefan Maierhofer (Salzburg)
Source: AFP
