Group B Preview: Part 1

Fun fact:  Of the six forwards on the German roster, only two were born in Germany (Odonkor and Gomez) and all six are first generation immigrants.  Of the 23 players on the Austrian roster, all 23 suck.

The Contenders:

Austria- Ranked 92 in the latest FIFA rankings (only one spot behind Mozambique!).  Automatic qualifier (hosts).  Widely considered the worst team to ever participate in the Euro.

Player(s) to Watch:  Trix and Flix

These androgynous chaps serve as mascots for Euro 2008.  Despite their decision to team up to perform in a music video with Shaggy, they are more likely to do anything exciting than anyone on the Austrian roster.  

In all seriousness, their best player is Roland Linz, who plies his trade at Sporting Braga in the perpetual mid-table of the Portuguese Superliga.  He scores a few goals for them, and has seven career goals for his country.  He is described as "much-travelled" and "not bad," which makes him much better than the other Austrians.  

Another Austrian superstar is defender Emanuel Pogatetz, who you may know better as "that guy who gets megged by Cristiano Ronaldo when C-Ron plays against Middlesbrough."

Key Question:  How important is home-field advantage?  Look, even South Korea was able to reach the semi-finals of the World Cup when they hosted in 2002.  Home-field advantage can be massive in major tournaments.  The problem for Austria is that unlike South Korea, the teams it competes against will feel right at home as well.  Unfortunately, they have drawn three geographic near-neighbors in the group stage.  Austria and Germany share a border and Croatia and Poland are separated from Austria by Slovenia and the Czech Republic respectively.  

Will the proud sons of Deutschland be out to support their Mannschaft in Vienna on June 16?  Ja, doch.  

Stripped of their home-field advantage, what do the Austrians have going for them other than some of the most sensible names in the tournament (Jurgen Macho and Andreas Ivanschitz)?  These guys don't stand a strudel's chance in a gondola of advancing beyond the first round.

Relevant Literary Quotation:  "There is hope, but not for us." -Franz Kafka 

(Alternatively, "As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams, he found himself transformed in his bed into a gigantic insect."  -Kafka, The Metamorphosis)

Team Prognostication:  0 points, -8 goal differential, gracious hosts.

Croatia- ranked 15th in the latest FIFA rankings.  Beat England twice to win its group and qualify for the Euro.  Somehow passed by Mexico and Cameroon in the last month to move down from 13th.  

Player to Watch:  Luka Modric, Midfielder, Tottenham Hotspur

The 2007 Croatian Player of the year was just signed for a club record 21 million euros by Tottenham.  The Euro will be the 22 year-old's chance to formally introduce himself to the greater European community and show why he was worth the dolla-dolla bills.  The two-footed diminutive midfielder is more of a playmaker, but has shown a well-developed capability to score goals for Dinamo Zagreb, tallying 29 in 98 games for the club.  

Modric's style of play is reminiscent of  Alex Hleb, except he has a touch more pace and a much greater propensity to finish.  He also has a trademark goal celebration where he unleashes a backflip that would make Lomano Tresor Lua Lua proud.  Don't be surprised if Modric does some backflipping across Austria before this tournament is over.  

Key Question:  Who plays up front?  Brazilian-born Eduardo da Silva was the first name on coach Slaven Bilic's team sheet until he went down with a horrific injury for Arsenal this spring.  Now Bilic has to make some tactical decisions about who he deploys up top.  Mladen Petric and Ivica Olic are the natural choices, as they split time along with Dudu throughout qualifying.  However, Bilic may be tempted to change his tactics entirely and play a single forward and a five-man midfield.  

Goals should not be hard to come by for this Croatian team.  Petric and Olic are proven goal scorers, if not transcendent superstars.  Modric and Niko Kranjcar (see earlier profile) are two of Europe's up-and-coming studs who are able to score goals as well.  Midfielder Niko Kovac and his brother, defender Robert Kovac, represent the Croatian old guard and are serious aerial threats.  The question is not if Croatia can score, but if they can find a reliable goal-scorer.  All of these players are first quality, but Croatia will need someone to shoulder the goal scoring load to proceed to the semi-finals and beyond.  

Hrvatska is probably the most underrated team going into this tournament.  Though they beat out England in qualifying, most soccer analysts would be loathe to mention them in the same breath as Germany, Portugal, France, Holland, and Spain as possible contenders to win the Euro.  I think they belong in that group.  Strong in the back and with creative attacking verve, Croatia are for real.  

Relevant Literary Quotation:  "Mila kura si planina." -Tony Henry, British singer attempting to sing the Croatian national anthem at a Euro qualifier (translation:  "My dear, my penis is a mountain.")

Team Prognostication:  6 points, good for second place and qualification to the knockout stage.