Austria is yet to kick off their qualifying campaign. Their first opponent will be a familiar foe in the form of Germany.
The teams were paired together in Euro 2012 qualifying. In Vienna in the qualifying round, Germany almost became unstuck. They were set to lose their first points of the campaign. Mario Gomez opened the scoring but an own goal from Arne Friedrich brought Austria back into the match. A dramatic winner in the 90th minute from Gomez saw the post receive a kiss from him. Germany was rewarded with three points.
The return in Germany was over before it really began. Germany was already three goals to the good before Marko Arnautovic scored one at the end of the first half. Germany added three more in the second half to see off Austria quite easily, 6-2. One thing is for sure though- there will be no more last minute heroics from Gomez in this one.
For Germany, Gomez and Bastian Schweinsteiger are not part of the squad. Toni Kroos is set to return after an injury ruled him out against the Faroe Islands. Marcel Schmelzer was unable to feature due to injury against the Faroe Islands just like Kroos. Holger Badstuber will perhaps continue to deputize at left-back.
Germany didn’t play extremely well against the Faroe Islands. They offered the opposition a few chances that other teams in their group will definitely take. They were wasteful in front of goal. Until Mario Götze scored, Germany seemed set for a frustrating day. Some individual magic from Götze was what really inspired the victory. Austria will be much more difficult to beat.
Joachim Löw wasn’t pleased with the performance. This is what he had to say:
“I know that it was our biggest victory ever against the Faroes, but I think we have to be criticized here because we had many chances, but not enough goals. In some situations we could do better. We sometimes don't do the little things correctly. Faroe Islands are not the benchmark against which we measure our other opponents in the group.”
A large portion of Austria’s squad plies their trade in the Bundesliga. Robert Almer keeps for Düsseldorf, Christian Fuchs stars for Schalke, Martin Harnik scores the goals for Stuttgart and Emmanuel Pogatetz is one of Wolfsburg’s new boys. Bremen employs three members of the squad in Arnautovic, Sebastian Prödl and Zlatko Junuzovic. Mainz has two Austrian stars too- Andreas Ivanschitz and Julian Baumgartlinger.
David Alaba, Austria’s player of the year, unfortunately won’t be taking part in this match. The midfielder who speaks German with a Viennese accent is of-course a Bayern Munich star. His presence is important and he will be missed. Whether he will be able to return for the qualifiers in October is also a doubt as he has a long term injury.
The coach of Austria, Marcel Koller is not one to tolerate undisciplined players. He expelled Paul Scharner from the national side after the player demanded a spot on the starting line-up. Franz Schiemer of Salzburg was awarded a spot in the squad following Scharner’s exclusion.
Will Koller’s disciplined charges be able to handle Germany’s firepower? They could steal a point but that is perhaps the most they will be able to earn in Vienna.
Prediction: Austria 1-3 Germany
The return in Germany was over before it really began. Germany was already three goals to the good before Marko Arnautovic scored one at the end of the first half. Germany added three more in the second half to see off Austria quite easily, 6-2. One thing is for sure though- there will be no more last minute heroics from Gomez in this one.
For Germany, Gomez and Bastian Schweinsteiger are not part of the squad. Toni Kroos is set to return after an injury ruled him out against the Faroe Islands. Marcel Schmelzer was unable to feature due to injury against the Faroe Islands just like Kroos. Holger Badstuber will perhaps continue to deputize at left-back.
Germany didn’t play extremely well against the Faroe Islands. They offered the opposition a few chances that other teams in their group will definitely take. They were wasteful in front of goal. Until Mario Götze scored, Germany seemed set for a frustrating day. Some individual magic from Götze was what really inspired the victory. Austria will be much more difficult to beat.
Joachim Löw wasn’t pleased with the performance. This is what he had to say:
“I know that it was our biggest victory ever against the Faroes, but I think we have to be criticized here because we had many chances, but not enough goals. In some situations we could do better. We sometimes don't do the little things correctly. Faroe Islands are not the benchmark against which we measure our other opponents in the group.”
A large portion of Austria’s squad plies their trade in the Bundesliga. Robert Almer keeps for Düsseldorf, Christian Fuchs stars for Schalke, Martin Harnik scores the goals for Stuttgart and Emmanuel Pogatetz is one of Wolfsburg’s new boys. Bremen employs three members of the squad in Arnautovic, Sebastian Prödl and Zlatko Junuzovic. Mainz has two Austrian stars too- Andreas Ivanschitz and Julian Baumgartlinger.
David Alaba, Austria’s player of the year, unfortunately won’t be taking part in this match. The midfielder who speaks German with a Viennese accent is of-course a Bayern Munich star. His presence is important and he will be missed. Whether he will be able to return for the qualifiers in October is also a doubt as he has a long term injury.
The coach of Austria, Marcel Koller is not one to tolerate undisciplined players. He expelled Paul Scharner from the national side after the player demanded a spot on the starting line-up. Franz Schiemer of Salzburg was awarded a spot in the squad following Scharner’s exclusion.
Will Koller’s disciplined charges be able to handle Germany’s firepower? They could steal a point but that is perhaps the most they will be able to earn in Vienna.
Prediction: Austria 1-3 Germany
