Austria’s national team concluded 2007 without another victory. On November 21 the team ended the year as it began -- with a draw. The Austrians recorded a goalless result against FIFA World Cup™ participants Tunisia in Vienna. Four days previously the Red-White-Red selection had lost 1-0 to England at the same venue. For the English it was a last test before their final European Championship qualifier, which they eventually lost 3-2 to Croatia at Wembley. England failed to qualify for the 2008 UEFA EURO™ finals. Austria will co-host the event, so qualified automatically. But every football supporter in Austria knows their national team is in a sorry state.

Austria played twelve international matches during 2007, starting with a 1-1 against Malta. Five defeats, five further draws and just one win followed. “It was a difficult year. We were missing a victory for a long time. That created public pressure”, said team manager Josef Hickersberger looking back. “The team sought success for a long time. Thank God they finally achieved it against a strong team”, the Lower Austrian disclosed. The Austrians notched up their only victory by defeating FIFA World Cup™ participants Ivory Coast 3-2 on October 17.

Just 200 days before the start of UEFA EURO 2008™ the Austrian Football Association, ÖFB, team plummeted to 91st position in the FIFA World Rankings. That was a historical low, one place lower than in September 2004. When taking only the European countries into consideration, Austria ranked 43rd out of 53 teams in November 2007. At the draw for the 2010 FIFA World Cup™ qualification in Durban, South Africa on November 25, Austria were in the fifth drawing pot. The Austrians will play France, Romania, Serbia, Lithuania and the Faeroe Islands in the FIFA World Cup™ qualifiers after UEFA EURO 2008™.

The Austrians are pleased with signs of the slightest progress during these difficult times. It was taken favourably that the team had numerous scoring opportunities, and showed improvement in their attacking play during the 0-0 against Tunisia, in front of just 13,800 spectators at Ernst Happel Stadium in Vienna. Hickersberger said: “The team positively surprised me. I didn’t think that we would hold the ball for such long periods and combine so well. We had more chances than Tunisia. Basically I’m quite happy with the playing performance; the only thing missing was a goal”.

Austrian team captain Andreas Ivanschitz said: “It was an important game for us, with a determination to improve our standards. We were a tad unlucky in a few situations. We wanted the victory, and at times tried to get there through power”.

Prior to the draw against the African champions, the match against England, rated by many media as the “Match of the Year”, had been the centre of attention. A total of 45,500 spectators packed into a sold-out Ernst Happel Stadium on a cold evening. At first the hosts dominated the game, then after 20 minutes the 1966 World champions rallied. Goalkeeper Juergen Macho and English striker Peter Crouch clashed in the 22nd minute. Austria’s number one went down and was unconscious for a short time. Alexander Manninger, who plays in Italy with Siena, replaced Macho, who had moved from German Bundesliga club 1. FC Kaiserslautern to Greece’s top club AEK Athens last August.

Manninger was defeated only once, in the 44th minute by a header from the tall Crouch following a David Beckham corner. Manninger described how the goal was achieved: “Prior to the corner leading to the goal, Joe Cole fouled me. He stepped on my hand.” There should have been an ÖFB free kick, rather than a corner to England, according to the Austrian point of view. In the second half the match was well-balanced most of the time; Austria tried hard for an equaliser, but the guests’ defence held firm.

Hickersberger described, in a typically Austrian way, his impression of the unimpressive 2007 record, with one win, six draws and five defeats, and a goal tally of 7-13: “It is not satisfactory. It does not reflect any credit on me, which I must add to my curriculum vitae for my next job application”. But he was convinced that the team had improved. “They organise themselves well in defence. Now we’ll have to improve in attack. There have been some encouraging improvements”. The team manager doesn’t have an easy task, for in the final stages of the match against Tunisia there were repeated cries of “Sack ‘Hicke’”.

Hickersberger said it might have been better if easier opponents had been chosen for the friendly international matches. One year before the European Championship the team’s image is bad. The media and the public like to joke about the national team that was once among the top 20 in the world, and feared by all top nations. The current players are misjudged, Hickersberger said. They continually work hard in order to improve and progress. “But football players are often seen as loafers, earning a lot of money for very little work. Few occupational groups have such a bad image”, the team manager added. He knows that a turn for the better could be achieved by victories in 2008.