http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2008/jun/16/austria.euro2008groupbAustria dream of dealing out the schadenfreudeIn Vienna tonight the hosts are hoping to send guests Germany home with no favourGermany might come to regret inventing that wonderful word "schadenfreude". Their team is one bad result away from going out of the European Championship and that alone has led to some unrestrained joy in the Austrian newspapers. Osterreich was being handed out on the underground yesterday with a photograph of the striker Martin Harnik on the front cover and the speech bubble "Germany are *ting their pants". It is not big, or particularly clever, but
this is what happens when the most unpopular team in international football are on the brink of ignominy: everyone wants to revel in their discomfort.The chances of it happening, it should not be overlooked, are pretty remote. To put it into context, Austria versus Germany is a similar contest to Northern Ireland against England or Tranmere Rovers versus Liverpool. But then again, England lost the last time they played in Belfast and Liverpool went out of the FA Cup last season to Barnsley.Germany may be fifth in Fifa's world rankings and Austria a distant 92nd, somewhere behind Oman and Libya, but, as their assistant manager, Andreas Herzog, eloquently put it at the weekend: "They can shove that up their arse."
It has certainly been a strange backdrop to the final round of games in Group B. When Euro 2008 got under way there was little sense that Austria had embraced the tournament in the same way that, say, Germany did in the last World Cup. Now, however, it seems as if red and white flags are fluttering from every balcony, window and spire in Vienna. The police have already put netting round the Pestsäule, the baroque plague memorial column just round the corner from Stephansdom, in preparation for the party that could happen tonight and in Ressel Park an Austrian scarf had been tied round the neck of Johannes Brahms's statue yesterday.
The reason for all this is Ivica Vastic's stoppage-time penalty to salvage a 1-1 draw against Poland last Thursday, coupled with Germany's 2-1 defeat by Croatia. Suddenly little, patronised Austria can qualify for the quarter-finals at Germany's expense. All of which constitutes something of a surprise, given Austria's build-up to the tournament, when a 10,000-name petition urged them to withdraw for fear of turning the country into a laughing stock.
"When people first started talking about this tournament there were a lot of jokes about us and some of the people who were laughing even said we should not be taking part," said Herzog. "Now it is all the more satisfying to show that we have a real chance of advancing beyond our group - and doing so with a final match against our arch-rivals."
Can Austria do it? Do they have authentic hopes of repeating their Córdoba moment of 1978 when they beat West Germany 3-2 in the World Cup? As shocks go, it would be fairly seismic considering they have won only one of their last 16 games and, over the last 18 months, failed to beat, among others, Ghana, Tunisia and Japan. And, of course, England. Yet Harnik, for one, appears to think Germany are vulnerable. "They are under three times more pressure than us," he said. "I can see it coming to the point where they * their pants. If we take our chances they will be putting on their suits and going home."
It was an interesting choice of words from a striker who plays his club football at Werder Bremen and has dual German-Austrian nationality, and Harnik immediately found himself banned from doing any more press interviews by the Austrian football federation. "He is talking drivel, absolute nonsense," said the coach, Josef Hickersberger. "Germany have won the World Cup three times, the European Championship three times and they are favourites for this tournament. I am going to have to talk to Harnik about this. I cannot tolerate such stupidity."
Nonetheless Austria should be encouraged by reports from the German camp that Joachim Löw's players have held a warts-and-all inquest into their defeat by Croatia with angry words exchanged and, quite possibly, grudges festering. "Everyone is a bit tense," admitted Michael Ballack. "It wasn't a crisis meeting but sometimes the players are able to speak more openly away from the coaches. Football is not always harmonious, the voices have gotten louder and people have been giving their opinion but the important thing is that it is all constructive. You are not out to run anybody down but sometimes you have to say things with a rough edge."
Ballack acknowledged that he was one of the players who had more to offer than he had shown so far. Another is Jens Lehmann, the former Arsenal goalkeeper, whose inability to control his own penalty area will not have gone unnoticed among opposition managers but who is expected to keep his place.
"Overall we haven't played to our full potential yet," said Ballack. "I know, for example, that I could and should have done better. We are honest enough to be self-critical. But at least there's plenty of room for improvement."
Friendly neighbours? What happened when they met at major finals1978 Córdoba, ArgentinaAustria 3 West Germany 2. In the final match of their second-round World Cup group the reigning world champions needed to beat already-eliminated
Austria by four goals to stand any chance of edging out Holland for a place in the final. Karl-Heinz Rummenigge got West Germany off to the perfect start after 19 minutes but things went awry when Berti Vogts, playing his last game for his country, put the ball into his own net. Hans Krankl scored twice for the Austrians and despite Bernd Hölzenbein's header they held on to record their first victory over a German team since 1931.
1982 Gijón, SpainWest Germany 1 Austria 0. Four years later the two teams met again, this time in the final game of their first-round group. Algeria had four points from their three games, having beaten Chile the previous day; Austria and West Germany went into their match on four points and two points respectively each knowing that a 1-0 win for the Germans would see them both qualify because of their superior goal difference.
Funnily enough, that is exactly what happened. No complicity was ever proved but thereafter Fifa changed the rules to ensure final group matches were played simultaneously.
AuthorTopic: Anyone covering the Euro? (Read 8097 times)
April 27, 2006, 02:14:20 PM