Austria - Croatia

Austria will start EURO 2008 competition as one of the hosts at Ernst Happel stadium at Vienna. Their rival will be one of the favorites from the shadow – Croatia. Due to the fact that the bad result in first round will mount huge pressure on the defeated side, this match could decide a lot of about qualification in the next stage.

The domestic team is one of the outsiders on the tournament. As hosts they haven’t qualification worries, but in the same time they have missed opportunity to build team during previous two years. Bad results in friendly matches don’t leave to much hope to domestic supporters. Lack of good results on the big scene in previous two or three decades have made fans impatient and they are full of desire to improve their football ratings. But, their squad doesn’t have enough quality for some better results. It is hard to believe that Austria could find way to qualify in the next stage. Opposite I believe that they will have a problem to collect single point here. The group rivals aren’t only reason for my opinion. The main reason why I think they are without chances is atmosphere in the team and lack of discipline in their camp. There are a lot of rumors in the media about problems that coach Hickelberger has to build some smaller level of discipline. Some players behave as Brazilian superstars these days, even though their football names don’t have any weight. However, support from the standings will be only hope for domestic team.

On the other hand visitors will have a huge crowd on this match too. There are two reasons for that. At first, Vienna is just a couple of hours away from Croatia. Secondly, the football atmosphere in Croatia is too hot in last couple of years and supporters will be motivated to find way to watch their team. Euro 2008 could be a peak in the form of Croatia squad who eliminated England in the last round of qualification. The third place at World Cup 1998 and some fantastic result after that have built huge ambitions for EURO 2008. Pressure and expectations are high, but Slaven Bilic already has shown that he knows how to prepare team for big matches. Experience on big scene is the one of the advantages of Croatia team. Technical skills are the second area where visitors are superior. Team spirit and atmosphere are the third, so I believe in easy victory of Croatia team.

Odds for Croatia victory are pretty high due to Austria is one of the hosts. I think that you should use it and try with Croatia victory. For braver punters my suggestion is to try with -1,5 asian handicap. However, I will stay with clear victory at 1.91 with PaddyPower stake 8.