Group B
Austria


Odds to win: 100/1
Previous best: Never before qualified.
Gaffer's pedigree: His name is Josef Hickersberger. No we’ve not heard of him either. But to be fair at least he’s done what no other Austrian has done before, and got his side to qualify for the Euros. Admittedly they didn’t have to play a single game but take the positives, they are few others.
He might do alright: Werder Bremen’s Sebastian Prodl is one for the future, but the side are about as popular in Austria as Gordon Brown is over here at the minute.
How did he not get in? OK, so Paul Scharner isn’t Pele but he hasn’t half done well for Wigan this season. So falling out with his national manager probably wasn’t a good idea.
Stick your money on: Indifference from the home crowd. Unless they’re successful. Which they won’t be.
Wag Watch: It is Austria, so there aren’t many, understandably. But Boro’s Emmanuel Pogatetz’s wife Mirjam is tidy.
If they were a celeb: Heather Mills. They’ll have a tough time of it at home.
Obligatory translation feature: “Mindestens es war nur fünf” (“At least it was only five”)
Prediction: They’ll avoid complete humiliation by finishing third. In Group B.

Posted by: Lex