Austria
Wednesday, 04 Jun 2008 00:00
Austrian fans are hoping for a good showing on home soil
Securing automatic qualification courtesy of their hosting duties at Euro 2008, Austria are undoubtedly the worst team in the tournament.
Most believe, rightly so, that the Austrians would have struggled to get anywhere near the finals if they had been forced to go through qualifying and a 5-1 win over Malta last time out does little to hide the fact that this is a pretty accurate assumption.
Group C fixtures
Austria v Croatia
Vienna, June 8th 17:00 BST
Live on BBC1
Austria v Poland
Vienna, June 12th 19:45 BST
Live on BBC1
Austria v Germany
Vienna, June 16th 19:45 BST
Live on BBC1
European Championship history
This is Austria's first European Championship finals appearance, and their first major summer tournament since the 1998 World Cup.
The man in charge
Josef Hickersberger started life as Austria coach in 2006 with three consecutive defeats and was largely chastised for his team selection and tactics. He's since won over a few doubters, but only because the fans are more inclined to blame the players for poor form than the manager.
Presiding over a team ranked outside the top 100 in the world while trying to make it in a tournament that features the best 16 teams on arguably the strongest footballing continent in the world is no easy task.
Hickersberger has his work cut out and is likely to go defensive in the hope of nicking results at Euro 2008. And rightly so.
Team forte
If you had to pick something it would probably be their defence, which, on a good day, can be strong. However, too many inconsistent performances recently have left fans disillusioned, even about what is technically the strongest part of their lineup.
If you had to pick the biggest plus in relation to Austria it is that expectations are low, so much so that the pressure on having success as the home nation is almost non-existent.
Achilles heel
Where do we start? Austria are without a unanimous first-choice keeper since Helge Payer's withdrawal from the squad, leaving international also-rans Jurgen Macho (good name, bad goalkeeper) and Arsenal reject Alex Manninger to fight it out for the starting berth between the sticks.
Their defence is OK but unspectacular and can leaks goals left, right and centre on a bad day (witness the capitulation from 3-0 up to lose 4-3 to the Netherlands in March).
Their midfield is sub-standard for a Championship side, with a mixture of ageing veterans and inexperienced youngsters that lack the creativity to supply a poor forward line.
And in attack the focus is on a couple of old heads in Erwin Hoffer and Martin Harnik who, while in good form for their clubs, have misfired badly at international level. The coach is worried to such an extent about this department that 38-year-old Ivica Vastic, who was a decent striker in the 1990s, has been called up as something of a last-ditch quick fix.
Player to watch
Werder Bremen-bound Sebastian Prodl in defence is a strong character who will lead the Austrian back line, while the midfield features a strong holding player in Rene Aufhauser and captain Andreas Ivanschitz is a calming influence in the middle.
However, the problem remains that big characters are too few and far between and Austria are lacking a talisman. Fans will be hoping a 'player to watch' will emerge as the tournament progresses.
Chances of victory
Slim to none. Yes, we said the same about Greece four years ago - but this Austrian team is poor. Really poor. Lacking in virtually every department, from the goalkeeper to the midfield and a toothless attack, it is hard to see them troubling the scoring charts let alone the quarter-finals.
Hosts tend to do well at their own tournaments, but it is hard to make the case for Austria to surprise people this summer. Switzerland are the more likely of the two to progress and even the most optimistic Austrian fans have conceded that a first-round exit is more than likely. With a world ranking and betting odds that resemble cricket scores, that prediction is a pretty safe one.
Squad
Goalkeepers
1 Alex Manninger
21 Jurgen Macho
23 Ramazan Ozcan
Defenders
2 Joachim Standfest
3 Martin Stranzl
4 Emanuel Pogatetz
12 Ronald Gercaliu
13 Markus Katzer
15 Sebastian Prodl
16 Jurgen Patocka
17 Martin Hiden
Midfielders
5 Christian Fuchs
6 Rene Aufhauser
8 Christoph Leitgeb
10 Andreas Ivanschitz
11 Umit Korkmaz
14 Gyorgy Garics
19 Jurgen Saumel
20 Martin Harnik
Forwards
7 Ivica Vastic
9 Roland Linz
18 Roman Kienast
22 Erwin Hoffer