The Average Age of Austria’s Euro 2008 Squad Just Went Way Up

Austria coach Josef Hickersberger pulled a bit of a surprise out of the old selection bag today. His provisional 31 man squad for Euro 2008 contained the name Ivica Vastić, who hasn’t played for Austria since way back in 2005, and hasn’t played at all under Hickersberger. Oh, and he’s 38 years old, which is a lot of birthday candles for an international attacking midfielder.

If Vastić makes the final cut he’ll almost definitely be the oldest outfield player at Euro 2008. Unless France recall Michel Platini or something. But crows feet or not, Vastić has been in great form for LASK Linz in the Austrian Bundesliga this season, scoring 13 goals, and has earned his shot at an unexpected final international tournament.

Here’s a quick video of Vastić in his hey-day with Sturm Graz:

If he can do a bit more of that this summer, then maybe the Euro 2008 co-hosts performance won’t be the embarassment some fans were worrying about.

One man definitely not playing for Austria this summer is Paul Scharner. The Wigan man walked out on Austria in 2006, and made it clear he wasn’t a Hickersberger fan. Scharner has since made himself available for selection, but Hickersberger isn’t much interested.

Here’s the 31 man squad in full. If you want to play “count the Rapid Wien players” then the winning answer is seven.

Goalkeepers: Christian Gratzei (SK Sturm Graz), Alexander Manninger (AC Siena), Jürgen Macho (AEK Athens FC), Helge Payer (SK Rapid Wien).

Defenders: Andreas Dober (SK Rapid Wien), György Garics (SSC Napoli), Ronald Gercaliu (FK Austria Wien), Martin Hiden (SK Austria Kärnten), Andreas Ibertsberger (TSG 1899 Hoffenheim), Markus Katzer (SK Rapid Wien), Jürgen Patocka (SK Rapid Wien), Emanuel Pogatetz (Middlesbrough FC), Sebastian Prödl (SK Sturm Graz), Franz Schiemer (FK Austria Wien), Martin Stranzl (FC Spartak Moskva).

Midfielders: Rene Aufhauser (FC Salzburg), Christian Fuchs (SV Mattersburg), Martin Harnik (Werder Bremen), Andreas Ivanschitz (Panathinaikos FC), Ümit Korkmaz (SK Rapid Wien), Christoph Leitgeb (FC Salzburg), Jürgen Säumel (SK Sturm Graz), Joachim Standfest (FK Austria Wien), Ivica Vastic (LASK Linz), Markus Weissenberger (Eintracht Frankfurt).

Forwards: Erwin Hoffer (SK Rapid Wien), Marc Janko (FC Salzburg), Roman Kienast (Ham-Kam Fotball), Sanel Kuljic (FK Austria Wien), Roland Linz (SC Braga), Stefan Maierhofer (SK Rapid Wien).