Austria are one of those countries who possess a disastrous record when it comes to both qualifying for and performing at European Championships. The only previous time they’ve qualified for this tournament was by default as they hosted the 2008 version. The Austrians managed to accumulate just a single point in the groups, drawing with Poland, as well as losing to both Croatia and Germany.
In the qualifying campaign for the 1992 European Championship, they experienced the most humiliating defeat in their history, 0-1 to minnows Faroe Islands. To put this in perspective, the game was played in Sweden, because there were no suitable grass pitches available in the Faroe Islands.
So, without any doubt, it’s fair to say that in qualifying for EURO 2016 this is the best Austrian squad since the inception of this famous tournament 56 years ago.
EURO 2016 Squad
Goalkeepers: Robert Almer (Austria Wien), Heinz Lindner (Eintracht Frankfurt), Ramazan Özcan (Ingolstadt).
Defenders: Aleksandar Dragovic (Dinamo Kyiv), Christian Fuchs (Leicester City), György Garics (Darmstadt), Martin Hinteregger (Borussia Mönchengladbach), Florian Klein (Stuttgart), Sebastian Prödl (Watford), Markus Suttner (Ingolstadt), Kevin Wimmer (Tottenham Hotspur).
Midfielders: David Alaba (Bayern München), Marko Arnautović (Stoke City), Julian Baumgartlinger (Mainz), Martin Harnik (Stuttgart), Stefan Ilsanker (Leipzig), Jakob Jantscher (Luzern), Zlatko Junuzović (Werder Bremen), Marcel Sabitzer (Leipzig), Alessandro Schöpf (Schalke).
Forwards: Lukas Hinterseer (Ingolstadt), Rubin Okotie (1860 München), Marc Janko (Basel).
David Alaba is not only Austria’s key player right now, but he is arguably one of the best players the country has ever produced. At just 23 years old, Alaba has already played 42 times for the national team. He made his debut in 2009 as a 17-year-old, becoming the youngest ever player to play for Austria.
During his career, Alaba has played at various positions, primarily as a left back, but also in central midfield, central defence, right and left wing. It’s fair to say that versatility is one of the Austrian’s strong points.
On top of being a very versatile player, he is a player who’s blessed with tremendous pace, agility and stamina, as well as possessing a dangerous shot from range, particularly from free kicks. Although perhaps primarily a full back, such is Alaba’s quality that he is actually one of the key attacking options for Austria.
This Austrian team were hugely impressive in qualifying and in winning nine of their 10 games they made it to France with something to spare, dropping points on only one occasion – a home match against Sweden. Two 1-0 victories over runners-up Russia ensured them top spot in qualifying.
Austria v Hungary – 14 June, 2016
Portugal v Austria – 18 June, 2016
Iceland v Austria – 22 June, 2016
Click here for the full Euro 2016 match schedule.
Austria might just be one of the dark horses of this tournament. Portugal looked vulnerable on a number of occasions in qualifying, especially when losing to Albania at home. Iceland are making their debut at a major tournament, while Hungary are considered to have one of the weakest squads of all 24 participants.
At 15/8 there’s definitely value in backing Austria to win group F. They were unbeaten during qualifying and, as mentioned above, this doesn’t look the strongest of groups.
I’m also a bit surprised by the odds given on Austria to win against Hungary. I think Austria are going to win this comfortably. With this in mind it seems worth taking them on the -1 handicap at 21/20.