On upcoming Wednesday
Austria hosts European Champion
Spain in an
international friendly match at the Ernst Happel Stadium (18.11.2009, 8:45 CET, live ORF1). The Austrian team finished their qualifying group as third and will miss therefore the FIFA World Cup 2010 in South Africa. The Iberians dominated Group 5 and qualified with the maximum on points for the final tournament next year - 10 games, 10 wins.
Austria will miss as expected the FIFA World Cup 2010 in South Africa. Their last final tournament was 1998 in France. The qualification start for the WC 2010 was perfect, Austria beat France at home 3-1, but then followed a 0-2 in Lithuania, a 1-1 at the Faroe Islands and a 1-3 at home against Serbia. After that 3 disappointing results coach Karel Brückner get sacked and Didi Constantini followed him as new national coach. Under Constantini the Austrian team become stronger and stronger, already at his debut the Austrian team beat Romania 2-1. So they finished Group 7 as third anyway ahead Lithuania and Romania.
For the friendly match against Spain Didi Constantini did not nominate Andreas Ivanschitz and Martin Stranzl in the ÖFB squad. This decision provided for some trouble. Ivanschitz is at the moment in top form and one of the best midfielders in the German Bundesliga. The former Austrian captain leads the scoring list with 6 goals and 6 assists. Martin Stranzl is with Spartak Moskva still in the Russian title match. After the non-nominating for the Spain match Stranzl retired from the ÖFB team.
European champion Spain qualified as winner of Group 5 for the FIFA World Cup 2010 in South Africa. The Iberians dominated their group and won all 10 qualifying games. In the last group game the La Selección beat Bosnia-Herzegovina 5-2. For the test match on Wednesday against Austria coach Vicente del Bosque nominated 15 players which become 2008 European champions. Not in the Spain squad is Fernando Torres (injured). Spain is second of the FIFA team ranking behind leader Brazil. The Iberians has lost only 1 of their last 43 games (including friendly matches) - 0-2 at the Confederations Cup 2009 against USA. Last Saturday the Spanish team beat Argentina 2-1, the goals for Spain scored Xabi Alonso.
Austria vs Spain
International Friendly Match
Wednesday, 18.11.2009, 8:45 pm CET
Vienna, Ernst Happel Stadium
Squad Austria:
KEEPERS: Robert Almer (FK Austria Wien), Christian Gratzei (SK Sturm Graz), Helge Payer (SK Rapid Wien)
DEFENDERS: Aleksandar Dragovic (FK Austria Wien), György Garics (Atalanta Bergamo), Florian Klein (FK Austria Wien), Manuel Ortlechner (FK Austria Wien), Jürgen Patocka (SK Rapid Wien), Paul Scharner (Wigan Athletic)
MIDFIELDERS: David Alaba (FC Bayern München II), Julian Baumgartlinger (FK Austria Wien), Daniel Beichler (SK Sturm Graz), Christian Fuchs (VfL Bochum), Andreas Hölzl (SK Sturm Graz), Jakob Jantscher (SK Sturm Graz), Zlatko Junuzovic (FK Austria Wien), Veli Kavlak (SK Rapid Wien), Christoph Leitgeb (Red Bull Salzburg), Yasin Pehlivan (SK Rapid Wien)
FORWARDS: Erwin Hoffer (SSC Napoli), Marc Janko (Red Bull Salzburg), Stefan Maierhofer (Wolverhampton Wanderers), Roman Wallner (LASK)
Squad Spain:
KEEPERS: Iker Casillas (Real Madrid), Pepe Reina (Liverpool), Diego Lopez (Villarreal)
DEFENDERS: Raul Albiol, Alvaro Arbeloa, Sergio Ramos (alle Real Madrid), Gerard Pique, Carles Puyol (beide FC Barcelona), Joan Capdevila (Villarreal), Andoni Iraola (Athletic Bilbao), Carlos Marchena (Valencia)
MIDFIELDERS: Sergio Busquets, Xavi Hernandez, Andres Iniesta (alle FC Barcelona), Xabi Alonso (Real Madrid), Cesc Fabregas (Arsenal), David Silva (Valencia)
FORWARDS: Pablo Hernandez, Juan Manuel Mata, David Villa (alle Valencia), Jesus Navas, Alvaro Negredo (beide FC Sevilla), Dani Güiza (Fenerbahce)
My tip: Spain wins this friendly match against Austria.
The best odd for tip 2 you find at Tipico with 1.50
