Portugal and Austria seem evenly matched
Friday, January 1, 2016
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Portugal and Austria come together again in UEFA EURO 2016 Group F, with little to choose between the sides in their six competitive meetings over the years.
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Portugal and Austria meet for the first time since October 1995 in the second set of UEFA EURO 2016 Group F fixtures.
Previous meetings
• Portugal's record in ten previous meetings with Austria is W2 D5 L3 (W2 D2 L2 in competitive games).
• In qualifying for EURO '96, Portugal's Luís Figo scored the only goal in Lisbon. The return fixture in Vienna ended 1-1, full-back Paulinho Santos's spectacular equaliser effectively securing Portugal's place at the finals in England and ending a ten-year absence from major tournaments.
• In qualifying for the 1954 FIFA World Cup, Austria defeated Portugal 9-1 in Vienna. Erich Probst marked his competitive international debut by scoring five.
EURO facts – Portugal
• Portugal are competing at their sixth successive EURO and their seventh in total. They have never failed to make it through the group stage.
• Portugal's greatest achievement is reaching the final of UEFA EURO 2004 on home soil, where they unexpectedly lost 1-0 to Greece.
• The 1984 EURO in France was Portugal's first – they reached the semi-finals, where they lost 3-2 to the hosts in extra time.
• Portugal have played 14 games in Paris – 13 against France plus a 0-0 friendly draw with the Netherlands. Their record in those games is W2 D3 L9.
• Portuguese clubs have yet to win in six UEFA games at Parc des Princes (D2 L4).
EURO facts – Austria
• This is the first time Austria have qualified for a UEFA European Championship final tournament – they appeared as co-hosts at UEFA EURO 2008 but failed to win in three games.
• Austria's greatest achievement to date is a third-place finish at the 1954 World Cup in neighbouring Switzerland. They last qualified for a World Cup in 1998, when the tournament was staged in France.
• Austria played in nearby Saint-Denis at the 1998 finals, losing 2-1 to Italy on 23 June – a defeat which spelled elimination for Herbert Prohaska's side.
• Austria's record in 12 games in Paris is W4 D1 L7, the most recent of those wins a 2-1 friendly success against France in March 1965.
• Austria are one of four nations – along with England, Italy and Romania – who negotiated UEFA EURO 2016 qualifying unbeaten (W9 D1). They came to the finals on a nine-game competitive winning streak and having not lost in 11 competitive fixtures (W10 D1).
Coach and player links
• Have played together:
João Moutinho (Portugal) & Marc Janko (Austria) – Porto, 2012
Ricardo Quaresma (Portugal) and Marko Arnautović (Austria) – Internazionale Milano, 2009–10
• Portugal coach Fernando Santos oversaw two friendly wins against Austria (2-1 in November 2010 and 2-0 in August 2013) during his time in charge of Greece.