EURO 2008 Preview- Austria | The Blog of the World's Sport

It's been a long time, but it's come to a very important part of the year and I know that the UEFA Champions League Final is tomorrow, but it's almost time for the UEFA EURO 2008 tourney, which is the biggest tourney for the European international teams. Remember, the winner of the tourney will receive an automatic berth into the FIFA Confederations Cup which will be held in 2009 in South Africa. Today, I start with Austria, and tomorrow, I will continue in alphabetical order. So let's get this show on the road.

On June 7, 2008, Austria will make history as they will play in there first EURO as well as they will be the first of two nations to co-host the tourney. This team has always been strong, but very underrated and always a threat, especially on home ground.

Strength- The one true strength of this team is how well the players know each other. Out of 33 players on the Training squads, 19 players play there football in Austria. With most of them playing with Rapid or Sturm.

Weakness- this team's weakness is definitely it's lack of a star player. Without that threat, a team is sometimes nothing, and it may prove to be the case at the end of this tourney.

Player to Watch- Erwin Hoffer, Striker. This past season for Rapid, Hoffer managed to score ten goals as a 21-year old kid. I think this kid may bring something explosive to the table for the Austrians.

Prediction: Austria come out and play well in their first match, but still lose. They lose all real hope, and they end up finishing 4th in Group B.

***Well, I hoped you liked it. They will get better as soon as the big-name teams begin to appear. I know them a lot better, and I will have a lot more info on them. Thank you, as always for reading my blog, until next time, it's been Keeper.

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May 20, 2008 08:24 PM ET

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Good blog Keeper. I know it's kind of hard to find much info on Austria but you've done well. Hoffer is definitely somebody we're going to want to keep an eye on. He put up some pretty good numbers with Rapid this past season and got his first International cap against Paraguay. I'm pretty sure he's 24 y/o now though......maybe I'm wrong, not sure.