Belarus braced for Austria 'battle'
Monday, August 9, 2010
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Andreas Herzog's Austria Under-21 side will move three points clear at the top of Group 10 if they beat Belarus at the Waldstadion on Wednesday, but the visitors are on a mission of their own.
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Group 10 leaders Austria will take a big step toward a place at the 2011 UEFA European Under-21 Championship finals if they beat Belarus in Pasching on Wednesday but that might prove easier said than done against highly motivated opponents.
Belarus coach Georgi Kondratiev has told his team they face "three cup finals" as they to bid to repeat their appearance at the 2009 final tournament. They trail Austria and second-placed Scotland by just a point and have home matches against the Scots and Azerbaijan to come. "We're determined to prepare for each of them as if for a final battle," said Kondratiev, the former USSR and FC Dinamo Minsk forward. "I expect [Austria] will attack in number, but we're not going to sit back. We'll try to counterattack," he added.
Kondratiev, who will be without the suspended Sergei Matveychik, has got Belarus playing a quick passing game and besides their 12 points from five qualifiers – including a 2-1 home victory over Austria last August – they have taken further confidence from recent friendly outings against Russia, Israel and Romania, which yielded two wins and a draw. Yet confidence levels are also high in the Austria camp. "We certainly have the potential to qualify for the European Championship," said coach Andreas Herzog, who can call on five players who have already tasted full international action in David Alaba, Marko Arnautović, Christopher Drazan, Yasin Pehlivan and Veli Kavlak.
Senior coach Dietmar Constantini left the quintet out of his squad for this week's friendly against Switzerland so they will be available to Herzog, whose team will visit Scotland in their final qualifier next month. The U21 coach was gushing in his praise of Arnautovic, who this summer joined SV Werder Bremen from FC Twente. Herzog, Austria's most-capped player, said of the 21-year-old: "If he reaches his potential, then players such as [Hans] Krankl, Herzog, [Toni] Polster, [Herbert] Prohaska will all be in his shadow." Keeping him quiet at the Waldstadion could be key to Belarus's hopes.
