on the attack

While Austria has fallen on hard times over the last decade dipping to an abysmal 101st in the world presently, the Österreichischer Fußball Bund has been extremely aggressive with a long-term plan to return them to the top twenty in the world and eventual World Cup qualification. The success of this program as already been seen with last summers U21 World Cup in Canada and the continued growth of younger players such Sebastian Prödl, Martin Harnik, Christian Fuchs, Ümit Korkmaz and Erwin Hoffer, all 22 years of age and under. Coupled with the athletic and speed development program that has been put into place nationwide through the services of renowned coach Roger Spry, the future of Austrian Football looks bright and garnering the attention of Football associations worldwide.

Naturally the long return back to respectability is tough road and the Euro’s will not be an exception, particularly as you consider Austria is grouped with Germany, Croatia and Poland. However Coach Hickersberger and the OFB have laid the groundwork for long-term success and I expect to see tenacious and enthusiastic performances at every turn.

Tomorrow, Austria faces Nigeria in a friendly that will go a long way in deciding the final roster for the Euro’s. Nigeria is quite obviously going to be an extremely challenging opponent as they are ranked 39th in the world and on the verge of breaking into the upper tier of top twenty-five teams in the not-so distant future. Nigeria’s present squad boasts the likes of John Obi Mikel (Chelsea), Nwankwo Kanu (Portsmouth), John Utaka (Portsmouth), Joseph Yobo (Everton), Taye Taiwo ( Olympique Marseille) and Obafemi Martins(Newcastle).

With the continued development of young strikers Stefan Maierhofer and Erwin Hoffer (both of Rapid Wien), Coach Hickersberger will be experimenting with more offensive, 3-5-2 and a 4-2-3-1 formations. This is a dramatic departure from prior matches and part of the long-term recognition of extraordinary growth of younger players, offensive firepower and greater team speed.

I’ll post a full report of the match tomorrow.