It's a reason to celebrate for the Austrians that they are co-hosting this summer's Euro 2008 tournament as they have never previously qualified for the European Championships finals. Having built sides capable of qualifying for the World Cup, most recently in 1990 and 1998, the Austrians have never quite been able to make the jump to the European stage when the qualifying stages have came around, at least this time automatic host qualification has eliminated that burden.
As co-hosts Austria managed to overcome their phobia of the European Championships qualifying stages and simply didn't have to bother withthe hassle of qualifying. Not having played competitive matches since their last World Cup qualifying campaign ended in 2005 won't help their chances of competing this summer though, partisan crowd behind them or not.
A former Austrian international as a player, coach Josef Hickersberger returned to the job of national coach in January 2006 after previously leading the side to the 1990 World Cup finals. The disgrace of a subsequent loss to the minnows of the Faroe Islands saw him relinquish the post and go into club management with Austria Vienna, Fortuna Dusseldorf and Rapid Vienna amongst others before being lured back to the national side with the prospect of a European Championships tilt on home soil.
Attacking midfielder Andreas Ivanschitz may prefer his left foot to his right but it hasn't stopped the Austrian press dubbing him "the Austrian Beckham" for his high media profile. On a two year loan at Panathinaikos in Greece, Ivanschitz will bear the brunt of fostering much of Austria's attacking creativity.
Having overcome some personal differences with Hickersberger and Ivanschitz in the past, uncompromising defender Emanuel Pogatetz will be a tough nut to crack in the Austrian defence. Having built a fearsome reputation in Russia and while at Boro, Pogatetz is not a man to back down from a challenge.
