An overjoyed Daniel Bachmann says a call-up to a major tournament with Austria caps a remarkable few months in his career.
The 26-year-old started the year very much as the No.2 behind Ben Foster and was contemplating if a league start for the Hornets might ever come, but all that changed when he was brought in for the home game with Huddersfield for the injured Foster. He kept 13 clean sheets in 23 games, kept the fit-again Foster out of the side, won promotion back to the Premier League and has now been named in the Austria squad for the European Championships.
“If you had told me that in the first week of January I would have laughed at you,” said Bachmann. “It just shows you how quickly things can change and I'm just glad all the hard work has paid off. I never gave up even though it wasn't easy not playing much for the past two seasons and I kept training as if I was playing. I got my chance and I took it.”
Didn't he just and now he has a very real chance of starting the tournament as Franco Foda's No.1 for games against the Netherlands, North Macedonia and Ukraine in Group C. It would be quite the stage to win his first cap.
“It's always special to represent your country – and for it to be a big tournament makes it extra special,” said Bachmann, who was born in a city south of Vienna. “Going to the Euros is probably the second biggest thing in football, after a World Cup. It's incredible, really.
“We have a very good squad as 21 of the 26-man squad play in the Bundesliga, which is obviously a very good standard. We've got to make it out of the group and from there you never know in tournament football. We are definitely outsiders but if you hit form at the right time then we've certainly got a chance of going far.”
