Austria undone yet again

Austria 0-1 Venezuela

Early goal
Josef Hickersberger's side drew 2-2 against Costa Rica last Saturday to end a three-game losing streak but there were few positives to take from this performance in Basel, where Fernando de Ornelas scored the only goal on eight minutes after latching on to a header from Austria defender Ferdinand Feldhofer. A free-kick from captain Andreas Ivanschitz which whistled over the crossbar was the closest the European team came to levelling before half-time.

Five changes
Hickersberger had made five changes by the hour but saw little improvement from his side. Things got even worse for Austria in the 83rd minute when goalkeeper Jürgen Macho upended the goal-bound Jesús Gómez on the edge of his area and was shown a red card. "The first half was a disaster," said Hickersberger, whose team are next in action against Liechtenstein on 6 October, five days before locking horns with co-hosts Switzerland.