Austria vs Greece Live Streams and TV Channels

Country	Channels
International	FIFA.com
*Don't see your country or favourite channel listed? Let us know and we will include it.

Austria vs Greece Match Preview

Austria are in the midst of a three-match unbeaten run, while Greece have not lost under new coach Fernando Santos in five matches, ever since the Portuguese manager succeeded Otto Rehhagel after the 2010 World Cup.

While this is only an international friendly and not a competitive fixture, for the teams’ managers Dietmar Constantini and Santos this match represents the final time this calendar year they can gather their sides together.

Both countries have made bright starts to their EURO 2012 qualifying campaigns. In Group 1, Austria have command of 2nd place at the moment with 7 points from 3 matches, a point ahead of Turkey and with a match in hand. Germany have seized control of the group right from the start with a maximum 12 points from their first 4 matches.

However should the Austrians continue their good form, which has seen them defeat Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan at home and come from behind to draw 4-4 against Belgium in October, then certainly the team will have a shot at making their second consecutive European Championship.

Greece meanwhile are also looking good in Group F as they lead the section with 8 points, one ahead of Croatia who have played one game less. Fernando Santos’ competitive reign may have begun in anti-climactic fashion with a 1-1 draw to Georgia at home, but the team have responded since with a credible draw achieved in Croatia followed by home victories over Latvia and Israel.

Though this is a tight group that could down to the wire, Greece really appear to be improving under Santos and the sense is that they will claim one of the top two spots.

Ahead of the match versus Greece, Austria welcome back captain Marc Janko who missed Euro 2012 qualifiers against Azerbaijan and Belgium last month. Constantini also sees the return of Bayern Munich midfielder David Alaba who too missed out on the team’s October qualifiers.

There are some injury concerns for the home side though. Emmanuel Pogatetz remains sidelined with a thigh strain that has affected him nearly the entire season. Ekrem Dag is also out injured for this match.

Pascal Gruenwald has been called up to the national squad for the first time and the Wacker Innsbruck goalkeeper may earn his first cap against Greece.

Greek boss Santos looks set to start with new faces with in-form players such as Lazaros Christodoulopoulos, Grigoris Makos, and Panagiotis Kone getting the nod for the starting eleven.

Three players are also on the cusp of earning their first ever cap for Greece as Kerkyra’s standout goalkeeper Dimitris Konstantopoulos, Panionios defender Dimitris Siovas and Panserraikos midfielder Giorgos Giorgiadis have been selected for the first time.

Former Hartlepool United and Coventry City goalkeeper Konstantopoulos could not hide his delight at being called up to the national side, “The fact that I am the first Kerkyra player to play for the national team is a great honor for me.” He also expressed his satisfaction at the quality inherent in the squad and the family atmosphere within the Greek camp.

When asked about Wednesday’s match, Konstantopoulos was clear in saying, “What interests us more is trying out different things and improving and not necessarily the result. That doesn’t mean however that we won’t be trying to defeat Austria.”

Players from Greek clubs who had Monday matches due to Greek elections on Sunday have been ruled out due to a lack of time for proper rest. This includes Aris duo Michalis Sifakis and Thanasis Prittas who have been picked by Santos before.

Vaggelis Moras has been recalled to the side, however there is no place for Bundesliga leading scorer Theofanis Gekas who quit the national team in September. Since then, Gekas has made comments suggesting he would be open to returning to the national team fold, but Santos has said that the player will need to speak to him directly if the situation is to change.

While Wednesday’s match in Vienna may not be amongst the most high-profile of the day’s several big friendly clashes, the game promises to serve up some excitement as it will showcase two teams being rebuilt in hopes of achieving great things in the future.

Austria vs Greece Match Report

Both teams combined to produce a decent match that featured plenty of chances especially in a wide-open second half. Austria were the better side for most of the game putting the Greek backline under some good pressure throughout. Greece meanwhile did better finishing off the few chances they had and the victory keeps Fernando Santos undefeated in his tenure as Greek boss.

The hosts got off to a flying start putting the Greeks on the back foot immediately. They had a golden opportunity as early as the 4th minute when Stefan Maierhofer won a penalty after contact in the area with Milan’ Sokratis Papastathopoulos. Florian Klein stepped up to the spot; however his tame shot was saved by Alexandros Tzorvas and quickly cleared away by the Greek backline.

After a quarter of an hour the visitors began to settle into what was evolving into an attractive back and forth affair. In the 16th minute Werder Bremen’s Marko Arnautovic worked his way to the top of the box and blasted just wide with a good effort.

The Austrians thought they had scored the opener in the 36th minute however Maierhofer was adjudged to have fouled Tzorvas when he beat the Greek goalkeeper to a high ball and headed the ball into the net. The referee felt that Maierhofer had impeded the Panathinaikos player however television replays suggest the goal should have stood.

Greece rarely threatened in the first 45 minutes with Dimitris Salpingidis’ charging run into the box on 23 minutes the one real threat the Austrian defenders had to deal with.

Though Austria controlled first-half proceedings, it was Greece who opened the lead just minutes into the second half. Substitute Giorgos Fotakis picked out Georgios Samaras in the box and the Celtic forward headed home to give Santos’ team a 1-0 lead.

Dietmar Constantini’s side nearly had an instant response, but Zlatko Junuzovic contrived to miss from only 6 yards out. Austria kept trying to find a breakthrough and they were rewarded with a fantastic equalizer on 66 minutes. The scorer was captain Christian Fuchs as the on-loan Mainz player produced a wonderful left-footed long-range shot that flew past Tzorvas to make it 1-1.

Against the run of play, the Greeks produced what turned out to be the winner just 8 minutes from time. Samaras was at the center of it again as he drew four defenders to him as he dribbled into the box only to return the favor this time and dish off to Fotakis who scored his first ever goal in a Greek jersey with a composed finish.

Greece were finishing stronger by this point and came close to a third just a few minutes later when Giorgos Karagounis had his shot well saved and then Giorgos Tzavellas almost scored but he couldn’t find the target from close range after excellent work on the left wing by young substitute Ioannis Fetfatzidis.

The match continued at breakneck pace and soon after Austria nearly came back for the second time, but Paul Scharner’s deflected shot was tipped over by as Tzorvas produced a great instinct save.

And there was more drama late into injury time as Jacob Jantscher nearly pulled out a draw for Austria though he missed an opportunity with the last kick of the game. Greece held on to win for the first time ever in Austria, though the defeat won’t be looked at too harshly by Austrian supporters who must have been pleased by their side’s positive display.

Austria vs Greece Videos

Austria vs Greece Fan Discussion

blog comments powered by Disqus