Austria coach Josef Hickersberger is facing an uphill task after seeing his side go down 1-0 to Croatia.
Austria's lack of firepower costs them dear
Austria coach Josef Hickersberger is facing an uphill task after seeing his side go down 1-0 to Croatia.
The Euro 2008 co-hosts had been hailed as the tournament's whipping boys, but made a mockery of those predictions with a gutsy display against a talented Croat outfit.
A clumsy challenge inside the opening three minutes by Rene Aufhauser on Ivica Olic threatened to set the tone, as Spurs new-boy Luka Modric calmly dispatched the resulting spot-kick.
However, Austria refused to lie down and put their opponents under ever-increasing amounts of pressure for the remainder of the game.
A lack of cutting edge proved to be their downfall as they battled in vain to find a breakthrough, and it now remains to be seen whether they can repeat their heroic efforts in their remaining two Group B fixtures.
Tactics
Hickersberger accepts that it will be difficult for Austria to reach the knockout stages, but is refusing to give up hope after an encouraging opening display.
"This is the worst possible start you can have in an opening game of a tournament," he said.
"After four minutes, we conceded a goal and we took some time to recover. For the first 30 minutes, the team wasn't playing well, we were nervous.
"But after that, we followed our tactical plan and we did it well. We even dominated the second half."
Depressed
Austria face local rivals in their next two games and Hickersberger is aware that he needs to lift morale in the camp before the grudge encounters.
His side play Poland on Thursday, before they face much-fancied Germany on 16th June.
"The team is very depressed," Hickersberger admitted.
"The team showed during the second half that they could cope with the Croats - even win the match.
"But we are empty handed, so of course they are depressed. Do I have to lift the team? I do and I will."
