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PREVIEW: Euro 2008 Group B, Austria vs Croatia
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Austria |
 |
vs |  |
Croatia |
Sunay, June 8th, 18:00 kickoff CET
Vienna, Austria – Travel to Vienna
THE BIG PICTURE
The unfancied co-hosts begin their brave effort to avoid a national disaster. But they’re up against Slaven Bilic’s England-conquering Croatian team. Best of luck to both teams, though Austria probably need it more.
Three Key Players:
Andreas Ivanschitz – attacking mid, best player by some distance, known as the Austrian Beckham
Rene Aufhauser – defensive mid, reliable and experienced (the Austrian Makelele?)
Sebastian Prödl – 20 year old defender who’s a huge threat from set pieces
Austria squad
Austria Team Profile
Team News: Hickersberger has told keepers Alex Manninger and Jurgen Macho which of them is starting, but he won’t tell us.
Austria blogger j is pretty sure he’s gone with Macho though.
Triviatastic: Ferdinand Porsche (of flashy expensive car fame) was Austrian.
Visit j at the Austria Euro 2008 Team Blog for more.
Buy an Austria jersey from the USA or UK.
Three Key Players:
Vedran Corluka – pacy fullback who bombs forward Cafu-style
Luka Modric – left/central attacking mid, skinny but superskilled (and now property of Spurs)
Nikola Kalinic – 20 year old striker likened Davor Suker no less (may not start, but will likely come off the bench)
Croatia squad
Croatia Team Profile
Team News: Vedran Corluka has shaken off an injury. Mladen Petric and Ivica Olic are expected to start up front.
Triviatastic: Back when Croatian city Dubrovnik was an independent state, it was the first country to officially recognize the existence of the United States as a nation.
Visit Mario at the Croatia Euro 2008 Team Blog for more.
Buy a Croatia jersey from the USA or UK
BIG BATTLES
Lack of strikers vs Lack of strikers – When Croatia lost Eduardo to a broken leg, they lost their most reliable goalscorer. Austria don’t have a reliable goalscorer.
Andreas Ivanschitz vs Niko Kovac – Austria’s only real midfield threat vs Croatia’s only real defensive minded mid.
Dario Sjrna & Vedran Corluka vs Emmanuel Pogatez – Sjrna and Corluka will combine down Croatia’s right, Austria’s left back will try and stop them.
LIVEBLOG
Click here to follow the Austria vs Croatia LiveBlog.
Who needs a targetman when you’ve got Modric?
This will obviously require a titanic effort by Austria to gain a point much less not be devastated at home. The weather looked to have an impact earlier but that seems to have cleared up. For Austria to be successful they must slow the match down and control Croatia midfield which is obviously easier said then done.
Ian – I have to agree with you regarding Austria’s offensive chances. Don’t you think cutting Stefan Maierhofer from the squad was a mistake? He is quite a scoring threat and obviously a strong point in set pieces with his 6′8 height advantage.
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I just can’t see Austria scoring, but if Croatia can’t find a decent target man, a scoreless draw is not outside of imagination. I have to expect, though, that Bilic will find a way: 1-0 to Croatia.