The Hindu : Sport : Austria seeks another Cordoba miracle

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Austria seeks another Cordoba miracle

Germany must not lose if it is to advance to the quarterfinals

— PHOTO: AFP

STRETCHING HARD: German goalkeepers Robert Enke (left) and Jens Lehmann warm up at a training session on Saturday.

Tenero (Switzerland): What is celebrated in Austria as one of the nation’s greatest football successes is known in neighbouring Germany as the “Shame of Cordoba.”

Defending champion Germany was eliminated 3-2 by Austria at the 1978 World Cup in Argentina, in a match in which Austria had nothing to gain and Germany everything to lose.

It remains one of the most famous Austrian sports victories over its bigger neighbour and it came after 47 years of trying.

Now, 30 years later, the Austrians are again in the position to ruin Germany’s tournament when they meet on Monday in Vienna in their final Group ‘B’ match at the European Championship.

Germany must not lose if it is to advance to the quarterfinals, while co-host Austria could hope for a place in the last eight with a win, depending what happens in the other game between Croatia and Poland.

Pressure

Germany coach Joachim Loew has ruled out a “second Cordoba,” although his team finds itself under tremendous pressure after losing unexpectedly 2-1 to Croatia.

“Our team will show a different face, I can promise you,” Loew said. “It’s a setback, but it won’t throw us off. We will not be going out of the tournament. We won’t be thinking of what might happen. They (Austrians) will be playing for their lives but we’ll get the point we need and we’ll reach the quarterfinals.”

The Austrians, naturally, were reaching back 30 years ago for inspiration.

“We need a second Cordoba,” captain Andreas Ivanschitz said.

“That’s a piece of history in Austrian football. We are about to rewrite that history.”

Coach Josef Hickersberger played in Cordoba but he did not want to draw any comparisons.

“Playing against Germany for me is something special,” Hickersberger said. “What happened 30 years ago doesn’t play any special role for me. We won in Cordoba but that is as far as it goes.”

Lowest-ranked team

Austria is the lowest-ranked team in the tournament and only made it since it did not have to qualify as one of the co-hosts.

But thanks to an injury-time penalty that earned it a 1-1 draw with Poland, Austria can now hope.

Forward Roman Kienast, who came on as a substitute against Croatia and Poland, believes in an upset.

“We’ve got it in our own hands,” Kienast said. “Germany is definitely under more pressure.”

Austria failed to convert several first-class scoring opportunities in its previous matches.

“There are also days when you score everything and you don’t know why,” Kienast said. “We created great chances, maybe we can finally convert them against Germany.”

The Germans say they don’t mind the pressure.

“I’m looking very much forward to this game, 50,000 people in the stadium, what else could you want?” central defender Christoph Metzelder said. “With all due respect, if we regain our own strengths, we will win. As the German national team, we always have pressure and we can handle it.”

Change in line-up

Loew will reshuffle his line-up since defender Marcell Jansen is out with a shoulder injury and midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger, who has been coming off the bench, is suspended.

Other changes were possible. Lukas Podolski, who has scored all three goals so far for Germany, has recovered from an ankle injury.

Austria will miss suspended central defender Sebastian Proedl. Proedl is likely to be replaced by Martin Hiden, who would play his 50th international. —AP

The schedule

Austria vs Germany,

12.05 a.m. (Tuesday),

Croatia vs. Poland,

12.05 a.m. (Tuesday)

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