Austria vs Croatia [R]

[footyfan1]

Exactly. A fine game by them, an unbelievably motivated performance but they still lack real quality. Of course, I wish them best against Poland.


I wouldn't say they "lack quality." I think they have some quality, but are mostly young and inexperienced.

With better coaching and more matches such as this one, I think the Austrians have a bright future.

But of course, despite the great effort they put up yesterday, they're not quite ready for the Croatias and Germanys of the world just yet.

They do have the potential to get there though. That, I do believe from seeing that performance yesterday and the one they gave against Germany in a friendly a short time ago.

Same thing. They outplayed Germany for much of the match, but couldn't score. And Germany made them pay.

[Hrvat]

Don't know really much about their players, their age and stuff. But you're probably right, with the right guidance they could develop into a solid European side. I mean two years ago we brushed them aside at Ernst Happel with 4-1, the progress is obvious.

[MetroFever]

Austria deserves great credit for that and had they scored, that draw would not have been undeserved.

They deserved to win the game.....and this is coming from a Croatian.

If Austria were a little smarter and don't commit those early clumbsy fouls and if they had a finisher, it would have been a different result yesterday. It seemed like the scoring threats were increasing once they put Vastic into the game.

[Borussia]

Austria impressed me; if they play like this they have nothing to be ashamed of.

They played pretty well in their friendlies against Germany and Holland ... so I knew they won't be easy to beat (especially with the home support).

Croatia can play a lot better ... and I'm sure they will do against Germany!



With better coaching and more matches such as this one, I think the Austrians have a bright future.


C'mon, let's be realistic. ;)


They outplayed Germany for much of the match, but couldn't score.


But don't forget that we played max. 50 % against a highly motivated Austrian team in that 1st half...

[Marbur66]

C'mon, let's be realistic. ;)

They did very well in the U-20 WC in Canada.:)

[footyfan1]

C'mon, let's be realistic. ;)

I'm totally f'in serious. Austria won't be one of the best in Europe, but they will make some tournaments in the near future.




But don't forget that we played max. 50 % against a highly motivated Austrian team in that 1st half...

I could go with that, but that's not what Jogi Löw said....

[Hrvat]

They deserved to win the game.....and this is coming from a Croatian.

I watched the game on tv just now and would disagree. They were really piling on the pressure for the last 15 minutes but our defense looked pretty solid and secure in dealing with it. We were dominant for the most of the first half and also for 15-20 minutes in mid second half after which they shifted two gears up, while we looked tired in the midfield and allowed them more possession. It was a routine win for us, but one thing worries - our physical condition. I'm truly disappointed with that aspect.

[canadianscraggledog]

poorly refereed game.
The PK should never have been given.
Austria played quite well I thought.
Croatia did not seem as strong as expected.
We'll see how they perform against the Germans.
Gives Poland the impetus to play hard against them
and create chances. With better stikers then Austria,
we have a good shot at winning and having a chance to go through

[Marbur66]

The PK should never have been given.

Of course it should have....lol

[footyfan1]

Of course it should have....lol


Yeah. Unless there were some rule changes I don't know about, that was a clear penalty.

When did they make obstruction without playing the ball in the penalty area legal?

Can anyone tell me that? Perhaps it's a rule instituted for the home teams in this tournament?

You know, like the one that was apparently instituted to keep that freakin hack Pogatetz on the pitch?? :rolleyes:

[Hrvat]

A clear penalty, no need to discuss that. What was bad about the referee was that Pogatetz wasn't sent off after a triple foul on Olić.

[canadianscraggledog]

Yeah. Unless there were some rule changes I don't know about, that was a clear penalty.

When did they make obstruction without playing the ball in the penalty area legal?

Can anyone tell me that? Perhaps it's a rule instituted for the home teams in this tournament?

You know, like the one that was apparently instituted to keep that freakin hack Pogatetz on the pitch?? :rolleyes:

Very true. Pogatetz is very impetuish sometimes. Should have been a 2nd yellow.
But I was surprised that Kovac did not get a red card for his two-footed studs up challenge.

[cromagnum]

wow that was a pretty bad performace by us..we played ok for about the first 30 minutes but after that austria i thought was the better side..i kind of knew this was going to happen that we would underestimate austria but the bottom line is they got the 3 points and thats what counts..i dont think petric is healthy by the way..that is not the same mladen petric i saw who played very well in qualifiers and for dortmund this year..olic bless his heart for his great hustle but he cant finish for shit..hopefully petric just had a bad game but i dont think thats the case as he usually hustles and runs and he wasnt doing that against the austrians..

[fh 1]

This was indeed a bad performance by Croatia. But Austria played much better than expected. If they play this way further on, their future may be much brighter than until now.
Wasn't their U19 a few years ago European champions or something? The work with the youth seems to pay back.

Of course we have to improve and we will. But I'm not sure if this will be enough to beat Germany, which is in an impressive shape.
And I think that Austria has good chances against Poland to score their first goal and get first point(s).

[graz1909]

in my point of view the following points do really need to be changed for the game against poland on thursday:

1. away from 3-5-1-1 and use 4-4-2... the 3 players defence has never worked and won't ever work in this team.
austria's defence can only work out with pogatetz - prödl -stranzl - garics

2. a break for andi ivanschitz. in none of the past games he could come up the expectations put into him. he definitely is an excellent player but in the national team he couldn't even get close to his performances for panathinaikos. and i don't think he really is the right one for the captain of the team. ivo vastic should definitely get his chance from the beginning, despite his 38 years of age he is probably the fittest player of the squad.

3. ümit korkmaz for 90 minutes instead of gercaliu or fuchs. he was very effective in the left midfield, always dangerous, very fast, technically strong and proved his strong fighting spirit.

4. no more coward style football. linz should get a fast partner in the offense. roland linz alone is not really effective, i had to play alone against defenders like simunic and kovac. he seems to get along pretty well with erwin hoffer, so put those two together instead of making a sub like kienast for linz, replacing one forward for another when you are one goal behind...

i am convinced that this team has enough quality to advance to the quarter finals, if you put the right players in. i mean, the best players, not the right ones... at least not in the way hickersberger meant that...