He doesn't see himself as a marginal figure, that doesn't suit his talent or temperament.

Marko Arnautovic is a professional footballer who loves to provoke - and as a result, he polarizes like no one else in the selection of the Austrian Football Association (ÖFB).

The striker used the training sessions in the team quarters in Seefeld to post the headlines that he had caused after his verbal dropout at the start of the tournament, to now also deliver pictures that could hardly be more descriptive.

Arnautovic wasn't short enough of his shorts.

So he wrapped the fabric on both legs as high as he could to show off his bulging and extensively tattooed thighs.

Marc Heinrich

Sports editor.

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    He naturally wanted to demonstrate his physical strength with his fashionably dubious action before stepping on the lawn. The 32-year-old consciously wanted to flex his muscles before the third game in Group C at this European Championship. As a sign to move inside your own ranks and especially with regard to coach Franco Foda, who couldn't help but announce in advance that he will be against Arnautovic this Monday (6 p.m. in the FAZ live ticker for the European Football Championship, on ARD and MagentaTV) Ukraine is called to the starting line-up; but also as an attempt to impress the opponent before the upcoming duel.

    His team-mates see the return of Arnautovic as a decisive plus point that can make the difference in the competition for qualification for the round of 16.

    At the start, in the victory over North Macedonia, Arnautovic scored the goal to make it 3-1 shortly before the final whistle.

    Then he had - once again - failed to curb his emotions.

    An "absolute mentality creature"

    Instead of only being happy about the important goal, he also followed up with a word tirade, which captain David Alaba tried in vain to prevent when he tried to shut Arnautovic's mouth.

    According to the opinion of the UEFA sports judges, who then took to heart the scenes, Arnautovic made a defamatory statement against an opponent - which gave him the suspension for the encounter with the Dutch (0-2).

    For Christoph Baumgartner, one of 17 Bundesliga legionnaires in the ÖFB ensemble, the enfant terrible with the number 7 on his back is an “absolute mentality creature”.

    Arnautovic will do everything in his power to win.

    Although his childhood on the football fields in Vienna-Florisdorf presumably shaped him, which has rubbed off on his character to this day.

    There he was socialized as a street footballer.

    "Anyone who loses there has to leave the field," says Baumgartner, "Marko definitely does not want to leave the field."

    Baumgartner, who competes for TSG Hoffenheim on a day-to-day basis, made no secret of the fact that he welcomed the fact that Foda nominated Arnautovic, who has been employed by Shanghai SIPG in the Chinese Super League since 2019, for the first time this year.

    The veteran is a special class in one-on-one situations.

    "You can always pass the ball to him, even if he has three opponents around," said Baumgartner. Arnautovic would push the first away with his hand, the second with his bottom - "and the third he just takes away with his feet". What makes the confrontation with the Eastern European competitor special is the constellation before the end of the first EM phase: Both the Ukrainians and the Austrians do not have to win; a draw would be enough for both of them to advance.

    But there would be no "ball attachment from Bucharest", announced Baumgartner in memory of the "shame of Gijón" when Germans and Austrians moved into the next round thanks to a non-aggression pact at the 1982 World Cup: "It won't work at all", The 21-year-old committed himself and linked his expectations with the comeback of Arnautovics, among other things. In the last duel with the Ukrainians so far, the then Bremen player was the match winner with two goals in 2012.