UEFA EURO 2008 GROUP B
Austria 0-1 Croatia 1700 BST
Germany v Poland 1945 BST
BUILD-UP (all times BST)
European soccer championship to kick off in Basel ...
Austrian Father Who Imprisoned Daughter May Plead Insanity ...
Spurs sign Croatian star Modric ...
German President Kцhler visits Croatia ...
Serbia neighbours accept Kosovo ...
Austria remembers the 70th anniversary of the "Anschluss" ... To get involved use 606 or text us your views & comments on 81111.
(Not all contributions can be used) By Caroline Cheese
1704: GOAL Austria 0-1 Croatia
1703: Penalty to Croatia.
1703: Croatia win an early corner. Dario Srna takes it short but the training-ground move should have stayed right there. Austria clear.
1700: As we (or maybe it's just me) ponder the Austria/Switzerland, Switzerland/Austria conundrum, the game gets under way.
1659: "If Austria are that bad, why is it 'Euro 2008 - Austria and Switzerland'? Why not 'Switzerland and Austria'? The implications of this are as large as the Lennon and McCartney dispute."
super_stevie_f on 606
An excellent point. I assume the alphabet won the day.
1658: "Right, I'm sick of revision. Come on Austria!"
Dirk's Spaghetti Hair Mmmmm on 606
Are exams still going on? They seem to be never-ending.
1656: I think I heard a blast of Shaggy's official Euro 2008 anthem Feel The Rush as the players lined up. It wasn't as good as either of the national anthems, both excellent, hands on hearts, shouty affairs.
1653: Former Everton and West Ham star Slaven Bilic rallies the Croatian troops in the tunnel and out come the teams. The mascots all appear to be wearing the Romanian strip... which is odd.
1651: Austria appear to be staging a sort of counter opening ceremony. It's not on the scale of last night's events in Basel. A bit of dancing with big scarves.
1650: "Somebody give Austria a chance! Alan Hansen just described them as the only team with no chance whatsoever of winning this tournament. What about Poland?"
NemanjaMike on 606
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1649: Croatia haven't won a match at a European Championship since 1996 when Davor Suker lobbed Peter Schmeichel in the 3-0 win over Denmark at Hillsborough.
Pick your favourite Euro goal
1644: "Are you ready for the European Championship of 2008?" says our plucky announcer in Vienna. From the reaction of the crowd, I'd say they are you know.
1641: "A lot of people are making Croatia the "dark horses". I just don't see it. I think they will struggle against Austria and Poland and get pasted by Germany. They have a weak back-line and the Austrian manager seems to have assessed their weaknesses very well."
nickslick75 on 606
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1637: It sounds like a decent atmosphere at Vienna's Ernst Happel Stadium. The city has been flooded with an estimated 50,000 Croatia fans, with the home supporters a little less enthusiastic - understandable given their team's chances.
1632: Mind you, Nicky H-J isn't too complimentary about Croatia's strip either. "The checks draw attention upwards so they make the chest look bigger. But it's too busy and the socks don't work with the rest of the outfit."
1627: As if things didn't look bleak enough for our co-hosts, even their strip has come in for a bashing. Speaking to respected football bible, the, er, Radio Times, Ten Years Younger presenter Nicky Hambleton-Jones had this to say: "The red band on the top of the shorts makes the hips look very narrow and skinny, which isn't beneficial if you're trying to look tough and imposing." Oh dear.
1624: "It's spelt Kranjcar Caroline. Expecting a big game from the new Prosinecki today! Come on HRVATSKA!"
Anon via text on 81111
Apologies. That name is my spelling nemesis.
1622: Croatia coach Slaven Bilic revealed his line-up on Saturday. Mladen Petric and Ivica Orlic are charged with scoring Croatia's first goal by a forward since the win over England in November. Let's not talk about that game again though.
1621: So Josef Hickersberger opts for former Sunderland and Chelsea keeper Jurgen Macho in goal while Ronald Gercialiu gets the nod ahead of Christian Fuchs in midfield. Martin Harnik and Roland Linz are the "fleet-footed strikers" (see 1613).
1618: TEAMS
Austria: Macho, Standfest, Stranzl, Pogatetz, Aufhauser, Linz, Ivanschitz, Gercaliu, Proedl, Saeumel, Harnik.
Croatia: Pletikosa, Simunic, R Kovac, Corluka, N Kovac, Srna, Modric, Olic, Kranjcar, Petric, Pranjic.
1616: "I'm going for two thrashings today. Germany 3-1 and Croatia 4-0. Should be exciting games with much more attacking play than yesterday."
GaelForce22 on 606
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1613: "Their central defence is vulnerable. With our fleet-footed strikers, we can hurt them." Those are not the words of Croatia coach Slaven Bilic, you may be surprised to learn. It is actually Austria boss Josef Hickersberger. We shall see...
1600: Hello there. We're off to Austria* today, famous for skiing, alpine horns, Arnie Schwarzenegger, Mozart... and emphatically not football. The co-hosts are nestled just below Mozambique in the world rankings, and have not won a match at a major tournament since beating the USA 18 years ago.
* Metaphorically speaking. Clearly, I'm actually in Shepherds Bush. No deceiving of audiences here.
BIG MATCH STATS
Head-to-heads
Austria and Croatia have met three times before, all encounters were friendlies.
Croatia won all three matches, most recently on 23 May 2006 when they won 4-1 in Vienna. Ivan Klasnic (2), Bosko Balaban and Marko Babic scored for the visitors. Andreas Ivanschitz scored the only goal for Austria.
Team facts - Austria
Are making their European Championship debut. Four nations have won this tournament on their debut. They are: Soviet Union (1960), Spain (1964), Italy (1968), West Germany (1972). The last host nation to win this tournament was France in 1984.
Austria's 5-1 win over Malta in their final warm-up match marked just their second win in the last 16 matches. They have not won any of their last six matches in the Ernst Happel Stadion.
Team facts - Croatia
Taking part in a European Championship for the third time. Their best performance came in 1996 when they reached the quarter-finals.
Coach Slaven Bilic played in all four of Croatia's matches that year. Bilic will be 38 years and 271 days old on Sunday, making him the fifth youngest coach in the history of this tournament. Slovenia's Srecko Katanec became the youngest coach ever at a European Championships. He was 36 years 333 days during the 2000 tournament.
Failed to win their last five matches at European Championships (two draws, three defeats). Their last European Championship win dates back to 16 June 1996, when they beat Denmark 3-0 in the group phase.
Player facts - Austria
Rene Aufhauser was Austria's top scorer with six goals during their two-year friendly campaign (24 matches).
Backup goalkeeper Ramazan Ozcan (Hoffenheim) joins Poland's Marek Saganowski (Southampton) and Germany's Oliver Neuville (Borussia Monchengladbach) as the only Euro 2008 players to have played their 2007-08 club football below the top flight.
If selected, Martin Hiden will be making his 50th international appearance for Austria.
Ivica Vastic is the only player in the squad who has ever played at a major international tournament. He played in three matches at the 1998 Fifa World Cup.
Player facts - Croatia
Dario Simic returns to a European Championship tournament for the third time, following Euro 96 and Euro 2004. He has played four previous matches at this tournament which makes him Croatia's joint record holder.
Hrvoje Vejic will turn 31 on the day of this match.
Eduardo da Silva was Croatia's top scorer in qualification with 10 goals. He will miss Euro 2008 after suffering a broken leg while playing for Arsenal in the Premier League in February.
Big Match Stats source: Infostrada Sports
(BBC)
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