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review of Malta victory

May 31st, 2008 | By: j | 11 Comments »

Obviously coming out of yesterdays match you have to be extremely pleased with the obvious development of the program.

Roland Linz, with two goals could have actually added a few others, worked well with the pace of The Hoff and solidified his obvious position as our top offensive threat. The sentimental highlight of the match is of course Ivica Lastic’s goal, his first since spring of 2005.

On the negative side, there were some serious slip-ups defensively again, like the match against The Netherlands in March and they will need to focus attention on this. Alexander Manninger performed admirably in goal and thwarted these scoring opportunities but cannot be put into the same position against against the likes of Germany, Croatia and Poland.

No injuries were reported.

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Comments

By Mario | June 2nd, 2008 at 9:06 am

It’s amazing what difference a few friendlies can do to team’s(or nation’s even) confidence. Croatia probably should’ve went for the same recipe as Austria. But instead we’re now ringing alarm bells all around. Damn those Hungarians

By j | June 2nd, 2008 at 9:37 am

It is great to see and I don’t think the many outside the coaching aspect of the game have seen the tremendous groundwork that that OFB has laid. Naturally no-one is predicting victories but this is the first solid step to respectability and moving up the world rankings. If you saw last years U-20 World Cup, it was quite obvious of the dramatic changes and the long-term approach that has been taken. What might be the most tell-tale comment and coup for the OFB was bringing in noted consultants such as Roger Spry, to formulate a plan for long-term development.

I think Croatia will get through although I hate to bet against Leo Beenhakker. The problem they will have, assuming they finish second is the tough quarter-final match which is likely Portugal or the Czech Republic.

By Mario | June 2nd, 2008 at 10:01 am

Sounds like future is bright for the OFB. I didn’t catch the U-20’s but it looks like a solid result to build upon. If both OFB officials and Austrian media possess enough professionalism and patience, long term investment sounds like the only way to move forward.

However, I don’t mind betting against LB
And you’re right about group “A” winners/runners up, quality sides all around.

By j | June 2nd, 2008 at 10:27 am

Austria was brilliant at the U-20’s and you could sense the young players coming together. The Linz – Hoffer combination upfront could be something we see for years along with Stefan Maierhofer back on the squad.

Poland has a horrible time of scoring but Leo Beenhakker has a way with with getting the most of his squad.

My guess is to see Croatia advance as runner-up to face the Czech Republic which would be a great match.

By Mario | June 2nd, 2008 at 3:43 pm

It’s always nice to have some talent to nurture. I can’t say we have some special u20’s breaking through, except Rakitic of course. And since Eduardo’s injury, I guess you could say that we are experiencing the same goal drought as Poland. I will however hold you to your word in seeing us progress as runners up.

By j | June 2nd, 2008 at 4:55 pm

Thats probably Croatia’s biggest weakness and something they need to shore up for the future. The grassroots program / play is very solid and quite intense but to play at the international stage with a top ten ranking, a nation needs a centralized development program particularly as well as strong domestic league. I’m hopeful to see a strong showing from Ivan Rakitić and Nikola Kalinić as well as strategic performances from Luka Modric, Niko Kranjcar and Mladen Petric. The loss of Eduardo da Silva was enormous for Croatia and of course Arsenal who seemed to fall apart after his injury.

It sure does look like Croatia – Czech Republic to me in the quarter-finals with Portugal finishing second in Group A. For Portugal to overtake Czech they will need someone to fill the leadership role of Luis Figo and I haven’t seen that yet. Since you’re a Croatia fan, who would you like to play?

By Mario | June 3rd, 2008 at 3:59 am

That’s the problem, as we have a sub-standard domestic league. Also, practically half of our NT wasn’t born / never played in Croatia. So I imagine there’s a lot of developing to do to keep up the quality results we’ve had over the last decade or so. We’re a rather small nation but despite that we somehow always produce just enough talent to stay on the big stage.

I don’t know, to be honest I don’t believe Czechs will do too well this year. That said, I think Switzerland might just do enough to secure a runner up place, probably behind Portugal. But it’s a tight group again, and no one can be written off. Who would I fancy playing us in QF? Switzerland – I guess playing both hosts on the same tournament would be something special.

By Mario | June 3rd, 2008 at 4:08 am

But if it’s between Portugal and Czech Republic, I’d go for the Czech.

By j | June 3rd, 2008 at 6:40 am

Although Poland has been very confident, I think Croatia will be the runner-up and thereby face the winner of Group A. Who is is your greater chance of success is a odd question because I think Portugal hasn’t played close to their ability and might be the easier of the teams to knock-off. I’ve watched each of Portugal’s matches since the World Cup and the major problem I see is leadership. The obviously possess an abundance of talented players but can they control their flair enough to playing winning Football. My problem with the team is that without Luis Figo or Pauleta, they seem destined to be a group of great players who just never gel as a team. This is possibly Luiz Scolari’s greatest challenge as he must mold a player into a leader over a month. If this happens they could defeat the Germans and set-up an incredible final.

By Mario | June 3rd, 2008 at 5:14 pm

I admit I haven’t seen Portugal in quite some time. If they haven’t found the right chemistry through the qualifiers, then it might be too late already.And as you say, despite all the talent in there, just relying on individual quality and basically luck will probably get them nowhere. Especially when in such a tricky Group. Looking at their roster, they do have a few names that could step up and take the armband, but I guess it’s all up to Scolari. Looking forward to see how this turns out.

By j | June 3rd, 2008 at 5:34 pm

Portugal is a team overflowing with skilled players but they just haven’t looked like a team yet. This weekends 2-0 victory over Georgia didn’t change my mind as Georgia looked to be enjoying a holiday in Viseu, Portugal. Prior matches, the 2-1 loss to Greece, the 3-1 loss to Italy, the nil draw against Finland and the narrow 1-0 victory over Armenia leave you with a very confused image of potentially a great team.

Can’t wait till this gets going!

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