Austria midfielders Xaver Schlager and Christoph Baumgartner have rushed to defend Ralf Rangnick, after their manager was publicly deprecated by Cristiano Ronaldo this week.
During Ronaldo's bombshell interview with Piers Morgan on TalkTV, which outlined the forward's scathing views towards Manchester United, the Portuguese superstar criticised the appointment of former interim boss Rangnick, claiming he was 'not even a coach'.
Rangnick, who carried out the role of sporting director at Lokomotiv Moscow before joining the Red Devils, has been Austria's national team coach since June and is gearing his side up for the World Cup this week.